One hell of a fun film, boy.

Rating: 7/10 (26 July 2004)

Seeing the trailers for the film, I decided that - while I am a big fan of comic book movies - HELLBOY looked like a bore. Boy, was I wrong. When I popped in the DVD of HELLBOY, from the first few minutes of the film, I loved it.
Hellboy is a demon who was brought out of a hell dimension by the Nazis in 1944. He was taken in by a paranormal specialist, who nicknamed him "Hellboy" and taught him the basics of demon life. I guess. How the hell he potty-trained him, I don't know. Cut to sixty years later - Hellboy is the FBI's top-secret tool to kick demon ass.
First of all, let's get down to the acting. Ron Perlman is a very gifted actor, and he has never been better than as the title character in this film. His portrayal of the cocky, sometimes reckless good-guy demon is absolutely flawless. The rest of the cast performs well, but Perlman completely and utterly steals the show.
The story of the film is what attracted me to it at first. The whole idea with the Nazis and such I find to be very interesting. The screenplay is absorbing, action-packed, and frequently funny, but I must admit that it lags a little towards the end.
Another fun part of the film is its atmosphere. It feels like it comes straight out of a comic book, with its dark subway stations and nighttime scenes with an orange haze.
The special effects are terrific. Abe Sapien is Hellboy's sometime companion, a sort of fishy character with psychic abilities; and then we have Liz, Hellboy's dream girl who just happens to have a little fire in her. That's a pun, by the way.
Just watch the movie.
What can I say to get you to watch it? It's one of the funnest films I've seen recently, and it completely and totally surpassed my expectations. I really wish we had more films like this.
I can't wait for HELLBOY 2.
HELLBOY by Guillermo del Toro. *** 1/2 out of ****.