Solid film - nothing great - but entertaining

Rating: 9/10 (5 April 2004)

I was unfamiliar with the Hellboy story going into the movie, so I did not have any expectations of the film. I thought the commercials looked cool and I was looking to be entertained. I am, however, a big wrestling fan and I chose to see Hellboy over the Rock's new movie Walking Tall, so I was at least expecting to have a good time. In that sense, this movie did satisfy me. I had a good time and found myself really into it. There were no real eye-popping moments, but there was plenty of humor and the crowd in the theatre laughed heartily on many occasions. Ron Perlman does a great job, as he normally does, and he really made me root for Hellboy. He connected the audience to the screen with a very human element and many humorous elements that made you feel the human, emotional side of this character.

I thought the effects were good and close to seamless, but they were nothing we have not seen before. The pace is a little slow at first, but picks up. I did get the sense that they were trying to introduce a franchise rather than a single complete story because you do not get any sense that anything was really completed in this film. My other complaint would be that Hellboy does not face a wide array of enemies in the film. He fights the same type of monster throughout the film and the main bad guys seem to be an afterthought that he catches up to at the end.
All in all, I would recommend the film. It is fun and smart and never seemed to be contrived. It actually made me want to go and read the Hellboy comics and peeked my interest in the storyline. I will definitely go to see a sequel if they make it.