Formulamatic Comic Book Adaptation

Rating: 5/10 (1 July 2006)

Hellboy starts out promisingly: Nazis and other villains attempt to summon evil forces from beyond our universe in an apocalyptic (and even Lovecraftian) opening scene. However, when the action switches to the present-day, the film turns into a formula-laden comic book adaptation, closely resembling X-Men, but with less success.
The action is nearly non-stop: the villains are bent on world destruction and Hellboy and his allies fight a nearly constant stream of hell-spawn hounds (which are a nightmarish cross between apes and crab-like things) in their attempts to stop them. However, it feels rather routine, as if we've seen it all before and have a good idea were it's going.
Ron Perlman is exceptionally good as Hellboy and, in a comic-book way, his character is convincing. He possesses incredible strength and is seemingly indestructible; yet he is socially awkward and is basically living in a comfortable prison. Jeffrey Tambor provides comic relief as the director of the secret government agency dedicated to fighting supernatural threats (think, Men in Black as the apparent inspiration here). Tambor is charged with the almost impossible task of keeping Hellboy a secret from the public and providing official denial, although 100's of people at a time witness Hellboy in his frequent appearances, whether he is fighting monsters in the subway, or pursuing the object of his affection: the beautiful and demure Selma Blair, who is troubled by her own fantastic (but basically uncontrollable) destructive powers.
The rest of the cast is somewhat weak compared to Perlman, Tambor, and Blair, in particular the young FBI agent who is assigned to keep Hellboy out of trouble. However, his weak character may be intentional so that Hellboy appears that much more impressive in comparison. There is also a well-intentioned fish-like man who is brilliant, but nearly completely ineffective when he faces the forces of evil.
The villains are supremely evil but seem very two-dimensional, as if they never escaped the page of a comic book. The connection between them and the hell-hounds, although they are common enemies of Hellboy, remains unclear. It seems that both the "human" villains and the hell-hounds are simply dedicated, in their own ways, to bringing about hell on earth.
There are a some humorous moments (usually provided by Tambor's bumbling and Hellboy's one-liners). There is also a scene involving an re-animated corpse which is really hilarious. However, Hellboy is mostly just a stream of routine comic book action. Which is fine, if you like comic book action; however, the film could have been much better with a more imaginative story line.