"In the absence of light, darkness prevails"

Rating: 7/10 (28 April 2012)

Hellboy was such an interesting movie to see. It shreds clichés to pieces, has a fantastic story, hilarious one-liners, great CGI, but something in between made it feel empty. By no means is Hellboy a bad movie, but indescribably the movie falls short...
The acting was pretty good. Ron Pearlman shines as always, and I think he was a great choice for Hellboy. He delivers his lines one by one with no struggles at all, and leaves you hungry for more. The only character that was questionable was the FBI detective John Myers, played by Rupert Evans. He seemed to be walking through the film, but with a crippled leg and embarrassment.. The thing that blew me away was how the story moves along. It didn't need complex twists and turns, only a hint. It moves along with precision and thought, and wasn't hard to follow at all. The movie is stylized by the great director, but the style isn't overdone like most other films these days. He knows how to put the right amount of humor and action, never falling for slow-motion shots or far-fetched explosions.. The movie is also really faithful to it's source material. I remember reading the comics as a kid, and finding them really good, and the director knew how to put the thing on the big screen. He does it with the right amount of attention, and the right amount of differences..
Although I liked the film, there were some shortcomings. Hellboy was overdone with his jokes and humor albeit his few hilarious speedy one- liners. The movie has no tension whatsoever, but I'm not going to count that since the movie isn't serious. But whenever Hellboy is in a huge fight, you won't be cheering for anyone, because you'll know he'll come out the last one standing. Nevertheless, these things won't destroy the film for you. It delivers, maybe for a certain audience, but delivers albeit a little fall back. I recommend for people who can chose style over substance, but also get a little substance in between.
7/10.