Review of Hellboy (2004) by Toad T — 07 Mar 2013

Born to bring hell to Earth, "Hellboy" (Ron Perlman) is saved by "Professor Bruttenholm" (John Hurt), who raised him to be a hero.

"Hellboy" leads the "Professor's" secret "Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense" to protect the mankind from what it considers to be the paranormal.

Based on the Dark Horse Comics-published comic book of the same title, which is refered to on-screen, the movie is obviously targeted to fans of the comic book.

The story, which has the undead "Rasputin" (Karel Roden) trying to convert "Hellboy" back to evil so he can use the hero to bring an end to the world.

For those who never read the comic book, like myself, there is little character development. I believe the writer who adapted the comic book for the screen expected that only fans would go see the movie. The characters do appear to play off each other fairly well, but not perfectly.

The acting is not the best, especially the actors in somewhat minor roles. Perlman, on the other hand, makes "Hellboy" pretty likeable and fairyly comical.

In my opinion, all the performances are below par due to the script. It moves the story along too slowly, and doesn't expand upon any of the subplots, especially the romantic triangle one.

The special effects are what stand-out in this film the most. From the CGI, to the makeup, this is what makes the movie worthy of at least renting. If not for the effects, I would pass this one.

"Hellboy" is not "Batman" (1989) or "Superman" (1978). In fact, it's one of the weakest comic book adaptations ever released by Hollywood. If your a fan of the Dark Horse Comic title, you would most likely like the movie. However, if you have never read one issue of "Hellboy" you might want to take a pass on this film.