Best comic book adaptation ever

Rating: 10/10 (29 October 2004)

I love this movie. I saw it four times in the theater and four more times since I bought the 2 disc DVD. I am now waiting with bated breath for the Director's Cut DVD which is still on its way to me. You may wonder why I love this film so much since I am not into comic books nor do I usually love this kind of action film and I have a very simple answer for you: Ron Perlman, Ron Perlman, Ron Perlman, and also John Hurt.
It's the subtext of their father/son relationship in this film that really makes it for me. That, and also the Catholic subtext to the film, that take this film far beyond films that have a much more serious surface. But the great thing about this film is that the surface is so much fun as well. The film works on so many different levels. That's one reason why I watched it more than once.If I really like something I will almost always watch it again at least a second time. If I like it just as well or even better the second time around it's a good film. If I like it the most on my seventh or eighth viewing than it's a real classic.
The Catholic subtext of this film also ended up making viewing "Hellboy" one of the major recent spiritual experiences of my life. Frankly, in my opinion this film isn't just destined to be one of the best of 2004, it is destined to be one of the great classics of this decade.
I'm not a reader of comic books, but I loved this film so much I sat down and read everything I could get my hands on by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola.
I also read the prose novels written by Chris Golden based on Mignola's characters and all of the short stories written by horror writers also based on Hellboy. I've read all of the spin-off comics as well. The comics are just as great as the movie. Or I really should say that the movie is just as great as the original comics it is based on even though the adaptation in the film changes some of it.
I haven't become this enamored of something since I first read "Lord of the Rings" when I was 16. I read that book 30 times and saw each of the "Lord of the Rings" films three times. I did enjoy those films, but it says something about the movie "Hellboy" that I've seen it eight times and counting. "Hellboy" is not necessarily a better movie than the "Lord of the Rings" film, but it is a better adaptation, in my opinion, of its original than Jackson managed with Tolkien.
Kudos to Guillermo del Toro for bringing Mike Mignola's big red hero to the screen with such panache. And a big kiss to Ron Perlman for bringing him to life in a larger than life way. I've so fallen in love with Hellboy, both movie and comic, that I've written five fan fictions based on its characters and am working on the fifth chapter to my latest story. And I usually HATE writing.
I hope "Hellboy 2", scheduled for release in 2006, will be as fresh, funny, and original as this ended up being for me.