Del Toro's comic book extravaganza. A labour of love.

Rating: 8/10 (18 April 2005)

SPOILERS Guillermo del Toro is a comic book fan's dream director. With a passion for the medium, del Toro tested his superhero feet with the decent "Blade II". In 2004 though, it was his favourite character of "Hellboy" that he was allowed to direct. Producing a rough, but solid adaptation, del Toro has created one of the finer comic book adaptations in recent years.
In 1944, Trevor 'Broom' Bruttenholm (John Hurt) travels to a Scottish island with the American army to try to stop a Nazi plot. Finishing with a small creature from Hell, Bruttenholm raises 'HellBoy' (Ron Perlman) as his own. Skipping forward to present day though and the Nazis are back and are going to finish what they started all that time ago.
From the start, "Hellboy" is a daft, but fun film. Led by the amazing Ron Perlman, the film is well acted throughout. Even John Hurt, an often inconsistent actor is brilliant as the old and caring 'Broom'.
It is definitely true that the story doesn't flow quite as easily as alternative films like "Spiderman 2", but with some classic lines, it entertains for vast periods and produces some great belly laughs.
"Hellboy" might not be the finest superhero film ever, but it's not far off. With some superb performances and some exquisite directing, it entertains constantly. It might not be as finely polished as other recent comic book adaptations, but who cares. It's a fun jaunt through the world of the occult, and it's well worth a watch.