Hellboy Review
by Josh Gilchrist (joshgilch AT aol DOT com)April 22nd, 2004
Hellboy * * out of * * * *
Review by Josh Gilchrist ([email protected])
While Comic Book Movies may be the new fad, I'm hoping that the trend will quickly end its tenure of terrorizing the cinematic landscape. How many of these half-assed films does an audience have to sit through before they rise up in dissention? It's true that comic books will forever be a viable resource for cinematic material, and that's probably a good thing. When done properly, these films give us an insight into the psychosis of the superhero, usually one with a dark past. When done wrong, the films are nonsense, filled with ludicrous plot and dialogue.
Enter "Hellboy", director Guillermo del Toro's rendition of the popular Dark Horse comic which was created by Mike Mignola. The movie does have a certain sly wit at times, and some great set designs. The objection that most people are going to have with his film is that it's again a comic film made strictly for the fanboys. They're taking years of comic book plots and squishing them into one film, expecting those in the dark to understand what's going on. I've had the same problem with the two X-Men films, although those films were a bit easier to follow.
The film follows the antics of Hellboy (Ron Pearlman), who, thanks to a hell-hole generator used by the Nazis in WWII, was transported to Earth as a toddler. He's then adopted by Professor Bruttenholm (John Hurt).
We cut ahead to present day and Professor Bruttenholm is still raising Hellboy, who still looks like a young man since apparently the Devil does not age like we do. Hellboy is a sarcastic handful who loves to smoke cigars and work on filing down the horns that grow on his head. His job on Earth, more specifically in the New York-New Jersey area, is with the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, fighting the creatures that go bump in the night.
Well, the Nazi foes, led by Grigori Rasputin, have returned to finish the task the Nazi Party tried to complete sixty years ago. Maybe these are the type of absurdities that turn off pedestrian viewers from movies such as this. Yes, these films tend to open well at the box office, thanks to the fan base rushing out to see them, but, unless they can connect with an audience on another level, they see their box office numbers fall quickly.
What makes this film entertaining in parts is Pearlman's performance. He seems to be having fun with this role, even though the giant red suit he's wearing does look uncomfortable. At least he's able to bring in some energy. The rest of the cast makes the film feel like an amateurish B Movie. As Hellboy's love interest, Liz Sherman, Selma Blair is laughable in the way she maintains the same bored expression on her face. It's nice to see John Hurt still working but, even with his prestige, there's no redeeming this silly mess.
In one scene, Hellboy and Liz are sharing what is supposed to be a tender moment outside a psychiatric center where Liz has been kept. The film's most awkward moment, it unearths the most damaging aspect of "Hellboy", an unemotional tone. There's not an ounce of realism in this love story. Not even a moment of dramatic force at all. If we're not buying the more silent moments in the film, there's no way we're going to get too excited about the loud and noisy action sequences.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
