endearing comic book adaptation

Rating: 7/10 (22 October 2005)

Based on the works of Mike Mignola, "Hellboy," written and directed by Guillermo Del Toro, is a better-than-average comic book adaptation that boasts a refreshing sense of humor amid all the customary action sequences and first-rate special effects. The story begins in 1944, near the end of World War II, with the Nazis attempting to open a portal between earth and a hell-like dimension where seven evil deities have been lying in wait for just such an opportunity to come in and take over the world. One creature from the other side makes it through before the Nazis' scheme is thwarted, a young "boy" who is adopted by an American expert in the paranormal and groomed to become a superhero who can do battle with all the supernatural creatures who apparently exist in an abundance undreamed of by the vast majority of the human race.
The makers of the film have wisely chosen to keep Hellboy life-sized and believable in both his physical and psychological dimensions. Despite his red skin, stone right hand and ability to leap from rooftop to rooftop with gravity-defying ease, Hellboy is really just an Average Joe-type, with a bit of an ego, a sardonic sense of humor, a strong sense of loyalty, and a really good heart. Heck, he even has problems in the romance department not much different from what all the rest of us go through at one time or another in our lives.
The movie is overlong and the screenplay probably includes one or two monsters more than it needs to in order to get the job done, but Ron Perlman, even under all the heavy makeup, makes Hellboy a three-dimensional, sympathetic character, while John Hurt brings warmth and authority to the role of Professor Bruttenholm, the "father figure" who raises him.