Good, But Not Great

Rating: 6/10 (2 April 2004)

Like so many out there who frequent cyberspace, I could not wait to see this movie. I was a big fan of Hellboy when it first came out and loved the Wolves of St. August series, shopping around to all my friends in hopes of introducing them to the character. And everything I had heard on the Internet about this film praised it as the Second Coming of comic book films.
Sadly, I find it anything BUT.
Overall, the movie is by no means a disaster. I have seen worse, and Ron Perlman did an admirable job with the character, even if his make-up was a bit ridiculous looking. Regardless of the overall latex appearance of his bodysuit (which is a bit annoying, since Abe Sapien looked so startling realistic by comparison), he breathed life into the character and made me believe Hellboy was real when he was on screen. I, for one, am glad they used a real actor like him instead of going the CGI route that so many films (like the Hulk) take nowadays.
And by my own admission, it has been many years since I read the comic enough to know if the story was taken from the comic book or if it was weaved outside the printed page exclusively for the silver screen.
Regardless, it was seriously lacking.
The obligatory origin story starts in 1944 as a group of U.S. soldiers and Professor Bruttenholm (later in the film played as an elderly man by John Hurt) drop in on a secret Nazi ceremony performed by Grigori Rasputin in ancient ruins that reminded me of a would-be mod for the videogame Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Rasputin draws upon dark sorcery to open a gate to deep space to bring forth Elder Gods to bring about the Apocalypse, lending an immediate air of Lovecraft to the story.
So far, pretty good, and the effects were very well done.
But, as luck would have it, our American soldiers manage to thwart the Nazi efforts, and Rasputin is sucked into the void of space and his evil henchpersons Ilsa (how original for a Nazi villainess) and Kronen manage to get away. Professor Bruttenholm is not satisfied that all is well, and an inspection of the site reveals that a young demon from the depths of Hell has found his way to this dark Scottish Isle.
This raised a flag in my head, as I thought to myself that if Hellboy was indeed from Hell, as the name would apply, then why did he not come from Hell, but rather the cold, dark void of deep space? From a Lovecraftian Elder God no less. And Hellboy himself looking like no Lovecraftian entity I am aware of. It would have made more sense if they had opened a portal to Hell and the obviously demonic child came from there...but I am looking too deep into the semantics of the film and not suspending my disbelief.
Flash forward to the present. Special Agent John Meyers (Rupert Evans) of the FBI is transferred to the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Development (B.P.R.D.) and meets the Elderly Bruttenholm (at this point John Hurt) and the wonderous Abe Sapien (played by Doug Jones and voiced by David Hyde Pierce). While Sapien is not given as much screen time as the hero, Hellboy, he is delightful when he is on screen, and his make-up job was much, much better than Ron Perlman's. Bruttenholm informs Meyers that he was hand picked from a list of candidates to work at the B.P.R.D., and gives him the task of taking care of the star attraction, Hellboy (Ron Perlman).
To be fair, Perlman is a tremendous screen presence as Hellboy. He was throughly enjoyable and his delivery of his dialog was flawless. As soon as he came on screen, in my mind's eye he fit the role perfectly. He fleshed out Hellboy better than Hugh Jackman did with Wolverine and ran circles around Tobey Maquire as Spiderman. Just like Patrick Stewart was perfect as Professor X, Perlman nailed Hellboy. No one else could have played that part. It was tailor made for him it seemed.
Too bad the rest of the movie fell apart the minute the action started.
I won't go too much further into the details of the plot, save that it involved a demonic hell hound named Sammael that was more Lovecraftian than Hellboy could ever hope to be, the ressurected Rasputin and his two henchpersons trying to finish what they started 60 years earlier by bringing about the end of the world, and Hellboy and associates trying to stop them. If CGI is your thing, this movie delivers it in spades. If over the top action is what you crave, you get it. If you like the standard "Bad Guy wants to destroy the world for some reason, never stopping to thing that some demonic wasteland devoid of ALL life isn't what I would want to rule over, but hey, that's just me" plotline, this one has it.

If you are looking for something deeper in character development or a plot that makes sense, here's hoping Spider Man 2 lives up to the hype of its previews, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
To me, it is a blessing and a curse that we live in the times we live in. I am glad I lived long enough to see the realization of a watchable version of Lord of the Rings that didn't make me cringe. I am happy that the X-Men made it to the screen and avoided the straight to video curse of so many other Marvel heroes. I am glad that a small Marvel character like Blade could have a movie that was a pleasant surprise and still entertains me when I watch it. But I am disappointed when we get movies like Hellboy, which could have been so much more with an adaptation of a smaller story like Wolves of St. August than this special effects driven two hour plus drivel that we are saddled with instead.
Hopefully, when the inevitable sequel is made, they make the film less a centerpiece for trying to push the bar of special effects and more a character driven story where side characters like Liz Sherman are not wasted for the 15 minutes screen time they have.
Overall, I would give this film a sad 6 out of 10. Promising start that becomes an orgy of special effects that sacrfice characters for digital mayhem.