One heck of a flick

Rating: Null/10 (4 April 2004)

Based upon the Dark Horse comic by Mike Mignola, directed by Guillermo del Toro (Blade II, Cronos), and starring Ron Perlman (Beauty and the Beast), Hellboy is one heck of a movie.
The oddest of heroes - a reluctant demon who, despite a stone hand, is all heart - Hellboy fights monsters and resurrected Nazis as part of a covert operation for the US government. Sound silly? It is, and that's its charm. Under del Toro's capable direction, the action is swift, the monsters are scary, and the atmosphere is otherworldly. But it is character that drives Hellboy's plot. Much of the credit goes to the actors behind the masks. Ron Perlman delivers humor and humanity to a part that easily could have been little more than camp. And even supporting players, like the amphibian psychic Abe Sapien (voiced with aplomb by Frasier's David Hyde Pierce) are fully fleshed.
Highly original and immensely entertaining, Hellboy sets a new standard for comic-book adaptations.