I don't need to be a comic book fan to know this movie rocks!

Rating: Null/10 (3 April 2004)

I just saw "Hellboy" earlier tonight and although I'm not familiar with the comic, I was quite pleased with genre helmer Guillermo Del Toro's ("Blade II") effort into bringing this material to the screen. His over-the-top, quirky, visual style is imaginative to say the least; it seems to be a cross between Tim Burton's ("Batman") and Sam Raimi's ("Spider-Man").
Unlike their respective comic book movie franchises, "Hellboy" is an ensemble superhero piece like "X-Men" and "The League of Extrordinary Gentlemen". Like those films, "Hellboy" takes a band of outcasts with strange powers whose sole purpose is to dispose the world from the bad guys who want to rule it.
This time it's the Nazis (who else?) who are delving into a space portal in order to unleash a group of gods whose power will crush anyone who gets in their way. I know, the story is about as old as sand, but at least it isn't as bad as last year's "Bulletproof Monk", which only redeeming quality was the beautiful Jaime King.
Anyway, Hellboy (Ron Pearlman) is the key to turning the Nazis' dream for world domination into a reality (those damn Nazis, they'll never learn, will they?) and its up to him and a few others to stop this from happening. Of course they do, but it's the way they do that makes the movie a bit different from its contemporaries.
One of the pleasures of the film is watching the romance between Hellboy and his love interest played by Selma Blair. Its nothing huge, but it's the little things that count in these kinds of pictures and I liked these scenes that played out with geniune emotion and care. I like the social point it makes, it's the person inside, not the outside that makes all the difference. Granted its a bit overstated, but it's a nice one that helps make the picture shine a little more.
Pearlman, Blair, John Hurt, Jeffery Tambor and David Hyde Pierce (in a voice-over job) turn in terrific performances, they embody the characters magnificently. I only wish the cliched story was told a little bit more clearer, there are some elements that just don't add up. Still, "Hellboy" is terrific entertainment, it may not be innovative or original, but it's an enjoyable film that may achieve a cult classic status, though I hope it earns more than that. I loved it.
I'd give it a rating of ***1/2 out of **** (Good).