Almost perfect!

Rating: 8/10 (31 August 2004)

You know, this film is superb on SO many levels, it makes it close to perfect.
The cinematography is beautiful (props to Guillermo Navarro). Most of the shots in the movie are moving shots, which breathes much more life into the movie than just straight-ons. And, since its a comic book adaptation, it's important that it feels real.
The acting is super! I wasn't really a big Ron Perlman (I didn't hate him, but I didn't really care for him) before this movie, but I thought Perlman was PERFECT as Hellboy. And Selma Blair as Liz. And John Hurt as Professor Broom. And Karl Roden as Grigori. And...EVERYBODY else. This movie has one of the best and most talented casts in the past decade!
The special effects were some of the best I've seen in YEARS! Granted, they're not perfect, but they're certainly better than Blade II's (Guillermo Del Toro's movie before Hellboy). In fact, I can only think of one scene I was really disappointed with in this film (Hellboy crushing the can with his stone hand).
The music in Hellboy is the best I've heard from Marco Beltrami so far. I don't think a bad score could destroy a good movie, but it could definitely subtract from its overall feel. Beltrami's score in this movie is fantastic! It's obvious he put a lot of work and thought into it.