Trailer:
“They gave him a name, not flattering in retrospect but it is what we all came to call him. Hellboy.”
After Blade 2, Guillmo Del Torro wasn’t done with CBM’s yet. Staying within the religious based class of superheroes he next stepped up to direct one of Darkhorse’s more prominent characters, the demon monster hunter named Hellboy and his colleagues at the Federal Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense.
The film opens back in WWII where the nazi’s and a Russian mystic are planning to use a weird machine and “black magic” to open a portal and unleash the seven gods of chaos from what we can only assume to be Hell or some other dimension. The recently formed Bureau of Paranormal Research steps in to try and stop them. They destroy the machine and the villainous Rasputin appears to die as the film’s other two villains escape. However, something got through the portal and young Professor Broom finds the baby Hellboy. He takes him under his wing and raises him as his own.
Returning to the modern day Broom is dying and Hellboy has established himself as a monster hunter for the Bureau and an urban legend among the public. The film introduces the concepts and characters in a similar manner as the X-Men, by having an outsider brought in and guided through everything. This part was played by Rupert Evans as Hellboy’s replacement FBI liaison John Myers. As a “liaison” he is pretty much Hellboy’s nanny, feeding him and making sure he stays out of trouble….needless to say Hellboy finds him a nuisance.
Right from the get go they head out to hunt some mysterious undying, self replicating hellhounds. As it happens they where released by Rasputin, who was resurrected by his two allies. It’s all apparently part of some convoluted scheme to lure Hellboy to them. Anyways that is where the films mystery begins, and I throw that word around loosely. The film follows Hellboy and his allies investigating and attempting to stop the hounds loose in the city while trying to understand what Rasputin is after.
Del Torro is reunited with Ron Pearlman from Blade. Here he plays the title character of the big red demon Hellboy, and really couldn’t have been a more perfect pick. He looks the part (of course helped tremendously by stellar make up) but can play the rough and tough monster hunter, and also his conflicts throughout the film with other characters. He is a lone wolf and sometimes his decision to go at it alone leads to bad consequences.
The character itself is interesting because he is an apocalyptic demon who chooses to save and protect humanity rather than obliterating it. This adds a nice angle to his development as he is an outsider and outcast trying to fit in, even going so far as to shave down his large bull horns.
He has several partners through the film. The movie concentrates mostly on him and Myer and how they try to work together and get along. The main problem with Myer is he is really just a device to get all the pieces quickly in place for the film. After that purpose is filled, the writers seems to struggle with finding a purpose for him. They establish he is supposed to help Hellboy find his way, but he himself, gets lost and forgotten as the movie progresses. When we finally get to the foreshadowed moment, it doesn’t feel fully realized.
There are other super powered members in the Bureau such as Abraham Sapien, a humanoid fish-man with psychic powers. Unfortunately poor Abe gets quite a bit of screen time near the beginning but unfortunately vanishes from the climax for no real explained reason. Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) serves as the romantic interest for Hellboy and she has the ability to create blue fire that many times goes out of her control. They form a romantic triangle between her, Hellboy, and Myer which actually worked out well because it added more tension between the two dudes and more distance between the protagonist and Liz.
Most of the main actors did a good job even if some of them lost purpose or got lost in the shuffle at times. John Hurt as Hellboy’s father did a great job as well. The only stand out lackluster performance from the heroes side was Jeffery Tambor as Tom Manning who is overwritten and overplayed as an angry, hateful, but incompetent member of the Bureau. The villains however are a different story.
The films villains are very bland and boring. Rasputin is just kind of dull and generic, his lady sidekick forgettable, and the only real interesting one is the assassin puppet Kroenen. None of their performances where very memorable and their schemes painfully convoluted. Apparently they are trying to use Hellboy to reopen the portal again but their methods are so roundabout and ridiculous when put in perspective. They release the weird hounds all over the city that almost kill Hellboy. The hounds then lay eggs but everyone proceeds to forget about them and it’s an issue never resolved. They just always seem to be trying to kill him, despite desperately needing him.
In the end the film really gets by on the amazing visual style and Ron Pearlman’s charisma as the main character. The other lead characters are interesting but the villains dull and the plot a little overly convoluted. Yet in the end the movie is undeniably fun and can have some legitimately funny parts in it. It’s a mindless action movie….but a well done one.
FINAL RATING: 7/10- (70%)
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