Hellboy Reviews

A Hellboy literalmente lo salva el poder de Cristo.

La verdad es que esta dominguera, no se, como que Del Toro no tenia muchas pretensiones con esto más allá de hacer una peli de acción con dos que tres escenas de horror sobrenatural-lovecraftiano. Encima por alguna razón, pensó que la gente quería ver más acerca del triangulo amoroso entre Hellboy, el simp y la gótica y menos monstruos o magia oscura (Encima usan al mismo mono siempre porque no tenían suficiente para diseñar más). De lo peorcito de su filmo, no me sorprende que sea de lo menos querido de la misma.

Towards the end of World War II, the Nazis engage in efforts to win the war through means of invoking the paranormal. They attempt to open a "portal" for seven beings who are meant to invoke the apocalypse on Earth, but a U.S. Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense is on hand to stop them before they get too far. They do not stop them as quickly as they'd like, however, and the U.S. troops soon discover that a bizarre infant, part devil, part man, red, with horns and the demonic works, with a large right hand made of indestructible stone, has gotten through. They acquire the infant, we go forward in time to the late 20th Century, and most of the film concerns an adult Hellboy still working in conjunction with the U.S. government to help battle monsters and the paranormal.

Hellboy was a 10 out of 10 for me, but there are a number of criteria for any viewer to have such a high opinion of it. One, even though director Guillermo del Toro is a big fan of the Hellboy comic books and many comments have been made by him, comic creator Mike Mignola and others that the film is faithful to the books, they've also said they've changed it to suit the context of the film, so you have to not be a purist about source material to screen translations (or current screen instantiations). Two, you have to have a taste for fantasy where the creators are not very concerned with making the material coherent with or plausible in the actual world. Three, you have to enjoy your fantasy both very dark (on the horror side) and humorous/sarcastic at the same time. Four, you have to like an epic, sprawling feel to your fantasy. And Five, you have to not hate cgi creatures. I meet all of those criteria. How many you meet will likely determine how well you'll like Hellboy.

What worked best for me was the material that showed Hellboy, portrayed exquisitely by Ron Perlman, as just a regular guy cum sassy detective. Even though he's half demon, a large part of the comics, at least--and this is hinted at in the film, particularly in the climax--is a continual nature versus nurture "debate". He was raised by humans who were as normal as they could be, being government agents in a bureau dedicated to the paranormal. So he has a large number of human-like quirks, including a love of old music, beer, cats, pancakes, chili, and so on. He's also a cigar-smoking, smart-assed detective. Hellboy is at its best when it focuses on these characteristics.

But everything else works well, too. Hellboy has a monster-like counterpart, Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), and a "freak" love interest, Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), who are almost as fascinating as he is. The villain and neutral creatures (such as the "half-creature" with a speaking role towards the end) are just as captivating. There are also other characters providing enjoyable comic relief, most notably Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor). His adopted father, Professor Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm (John Hurt) is intriguing. And newly recruited "caretaker" John Myers (Rupert Evans) shows promise, even if we do not get to spend much time with him here. Like many films of this type, I'd love to see all of these characters further explored in prequels, sequels and spinoffs. That's a good sign, because it shows that del Toro and fellow writers Mignola and Peter Briggs have successfully conveyed a world with "deep" characters who have extensive histories.

Also worth noting is the cinematography/lighting/production and set design, which is consistently beautiful, and ranges from the popular recent trend of more monochromatic textures (blue is the color of choice here), to the strong chiaroscuro of the comic books, to striking contrasts, such as a mostly monochromatic scene which is suddenly penetrated by a supersaturated red stream of blood. The sets are all engaging, from exteriors (one hilariously claimed to be in Newark, New Jersey) to interiors, urban to expansive countryside and even outer space environments.

As for effects, which are a large part of the film, I can't for the life of me imagine someone claiming that cgi looks "fake" compared to mechanicals, practicals, stop motion (ala Harryhausen), and so on after they see this film. For my money, these are some of the most impressive cgi creations yet, including some great cgi fight scenes.

Hellboy is captivating, suspenseful and humorous. It is well worth watching for anyone with a taste for fantasy.

This is an amazing comic book film! I love it. Very good characters, a nice story and amazing monsters.

Just before breaking through with ‘El laberinto del fauno’, Guillermo Del Toro made this comic-book adaptation. Since Del Toro was not yet widely well known, when it was released, it was only a modest success but it is has nowadays reached a cult status. To be honest, I’m not really familiar with this comic-book character but I must admit it, he is definitely a really cool and bad-ass fellow and Ron Perlman was perfect for this part. His background was also pretty interesting and I also enjoyed the other characters like Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien. Furthermore, it was visually quite appealing and there were plenty of impressive action scenes. Still, even though I enjoyed most of it, I still don’t think the whole thing was really amazing. I mean, the story was not bad but nothing really impressive but, above all, I didn’t care much about the tone. Indeed, the whole thing was constantly tongue-in-cheeck, after a while, it really wore me down and I think I would have enjoyed it more if the whole thing would have been darker. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is a decent comic-book feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Del Toro’s work.

I remember watching it when it first came out (I was just 11 years old) and I remember loving it. When I saw just it again just yesterday my view hasn't changed one bit. Let me tell you one thing: This is directed by Guillermo Del Toro and that's one of the reasons why this film rocks. Had this been directed by Spielberg, well, this would've been E.T with a large big ape. Del Toro can make fantasy/sci-fi movies just like that. It's all to easy for him and Hellboy is one such example.

The pace of the film is brilliant and the violence is superbly detailed. Yea, that's right, none of the cartoony violence. Granted, Ron Perlman was never in my Top 10 but who could dislike him as the titular character? Just like Nicholson and Downey, Jr., he takes an uncanny relish in his role and makes use of his screen-time. Ever heard Bad to the Bone by George Thorogood? That's right, Ron Perlman fits the description. Doug Jones, who portrays Ape Sapien, is like the modern Lon Chaney. His performance equally matches that of Perlman's. Even Selma Blair was surprisingly good but frankly speaking, I like her better in the sequel and John Hurt is a fantastic actor but I felt his talent under-used in an otherwise promising role.

Now, let me make one more thing clear: horror and fantasy/supernatural are two genres in which not everyone can be convincing. Sure, they play memorable roles and have memorable moments but performance-wise, this is not everyone's strong suit. Unlike drama in which even the most in-experienced actor can work wonders, fantasy asks for more. And the reason why I'm saying this is because Karel Roden who plays the antagonist, Grigori Rasputin, gave just about one of the greatest performances in history of fantasy/supernatural movies. His screen-time is minimal but the effect is everlasting. From the start to the finish, Karel Roden owns the film and his was the best performance overall. No questions asked. From his introduction to his death, he had me transfixed and in terms of fantasy/supernatural, his performance is up there with Ian McKellen, Doug Jones and Michael Clarke-Duncan among others...

Overall, as seeing just how brilliant Ron Perlman was, he should play Duke Nukem. I mean seriously, now that would be a film worth the wait and he would be just perfect. So, Hellboy is an entertaining film and not adding it to my greatest movies list would be a shame...

8.7/10

''Did you ever lose track of him?''

''Well let's see - there was that moment, when I had the train on top of my head...''

In 1945, a Nazi secret society summons a demon, but the ritual is disrupted and the creature taken by Professor Bruttenholm (Hurt). Now Hellboy, the star employee of the US Bureau For Paranormal Research And Defence, must stop evil monk man Rasputin, who wants to immolate the world.

Ron Perlman: Hellboy

Hellboy might not have the name-recognition factor like major heroes have the luxury of having but Guillermo del Toro brings us the audience swiftly up to speed on artist-writer Mike Mignola's comic book hero.

First, we are treated to an absorbingly detailed World War II prelude.
Then after we meet the present Hellboy who equals a hulking flaming red guy, complete with sawn-off horns, a stone right hand and teenage attitude due to his unique aging, coping with slimy tentacled threats to the fabric of reality while nurturing a crush on a fellow agent, troubled pyro-kinetic fire-starter Liz Sherman (Blair).

There are many characters and situations to display here, on hand is sensitive fish-man Abe Sapien (voiced by David Hyde Pierce), Del Toro brings in a new BPRD agent (Evans), developing a romantic triangle by having him attracted to Liz. This thread is easily the flimsiest, but so much else is going on that it doesn't get in the way of the film.

Del Toro turned down other projects to make this with a bigger budget in return for putting a star in Hellboy's giant boots, but he was right to hold out for Ron Perlman, thanks to his gruff, blue-collar charisma, a character who could easily have been just a big, scarlet special effect works like gangbusters.

Meanwhile, Blair and Hurt (as the hero's adoptive pop) provide calming outward interests, but the best supporting turn comes from the always-welcome Jeffrey "Hey now!" Tambor, as the smarmy bureaucrat boss.

Del Toro's already been down the comic-adaptation route in Blade II, Mignola's series is also congenial material ripe for cinematic treatment, with its blocky stone-and-iron architecture translating wonderfully to the screen. It's just a shame the promised reign of giant evil squid gods is too nebulous a threat to play as well as an old-fashioned fist-fest.

As usual, a human-shaped foe (here, Kroenen - a near-immortal Nazi assassin in stylised gas-mask, with a wind-up key in his heart and dust in his veins) is more interestingly hateful and remains a memorable aspect to Hellboy than the final encounter with a huge tentacled monster.

One of my fave Comic book adapts, Hellboy has dark humour and action galore and one I never get tired of watching or experiencing.

Back in 2004, having never heard of Hellboy, I went to the theater expecting a violently awesome, funny movie.

Boy! Was I not disappointed! This was the best wall smashing, heart pounding, pure awesomeness ever!
I walked out of the theater thinking: Why can't other movies be as good as this?

From the beginning to the end this movie rocked! I can't say enough good things about this film. Whenever somebody asks me my favorite film, Hellboy comes to my mind first.
If you haven't seen it, drop what you're doing, go and buy it! rent it! Do whatever! JUST SEE IT! You won't be disappointed.
It's by far the best film Ron Perlman has ever done and probably will ever do.
I can't wait for number two!