Monsters are the real treat here.

Rating: 5/10 (5 July 2008)

I would have never expected Hellboy to make the silver screen. There's something about the comic that never brought me toward it. But Guillermo del Toro has seen something I haven't, because the transition from comic to silver screen is exceptional. The film is very plot-driven, one scene moving to another at a faster-than-usual pace, but the real gift of Hellboy is the ingenuity and effort used in creating the monsters. Sammael and Kroenen are crafted with much care and I found it an absolute shame there wasn't more monsters to work with in a limited time.
Much of Hellboy feels underused. Liz is not used as much as I hoped, and Abe Sapien is out of commission about halfway through. Dr. Manning's fate wasn't fully settled on either and abilities used by Hellboy, like reviving the dead, are kind of just left out there, like who knew? But for a comic book film, with no expectations at that, Hellboy is a pleasant surprise, save for the fact that there should have been more monsters! This is Guillermo del Toro we're talking about!