Review of Hellboy (2004) by Amheretojudge — 20 Jun 2019

Almost as if it is Del Toro's origin tale, genuinely moving and freakishly stylish.

Hellboy Del Toro is having a fanboy moment. For two straight hours. The writer and director, Guillermo Del Toro makes sure he passes on his love with a hopeAlmost as if it is Del Toro's origin tale, genuinely moving and freakishly stylish.

Hellboy.

Del Toro is having a fanboy moment. For two straight hours. The writer and director, Guillermo Del Toro makes sure he passes on his love with a hope that someone will be moved equally by these rich characters just as he did. What is it when someone else tries to make an origin story of an infamous action figure or a comic book hero, it collapses. But when Del Toro does it. It is simply spectacular. It is probably the arrangement of the figure that he puts in front of us. His passion is irreplaceable. And with the mythological knowledge that he has, he might as well be crafting a sin in front of you and you wouldn't know the difference.

His film, looking at the formulaic structure of it, has a tendency to be a B grade average action film any day. But with command over the editing, visual, production, sound and his own department, he changes the course of the feature. It is incredibly difficult to say something about a film that is so textbook originated. The authenticity is its identity, there is very little room to devour ideas as a viewer. He doesn't let go off that nature versus nurture theme. If he could get a word in every scene of the film, he makes sure he gets the voice heard.

He is quite persistent like that. Isn't afraid of repetition, if anything, he carves it out as an emotional response, claims it as a part of being a human. The film isn't a feat of great performance. Don't get me wrong, the cast has done an excellent work. But the film is of such a stature that it can only be seen with all the ingredients, in its entirety, in its true sense, it is a collaboration of number of artists working on Hellboy, he who is the key to unlock Del Toro's tantrum on those comic books.