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65%
Overall Rating
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Ranked #549
...out of 20,698 movies
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In the final days of World War II, the Nazis attempt to use black magic to aid their dying cause. The Allies raid the camp where the ceremony is taking place, but not before a demon - Hellboy - has already been conjured. Joining the Allied forces, Hellboy eventually grows to adulthood, serving the cause of good rather than evil.
--TMDb
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Review by Chad
Added: April 30, 2004
Back in the days of World War II, Adolf Hitler was working with Grigori Rasputin on bringing demons to earth so that the Nazi's would rule the world. It didn't quite work out as planned, as some soldiers intervened and shut down the portal that was being used to do such. However, one baby demon did make it through, that being Hellboy. Fast forward sixty years to modern times, and Hellboy has grown to the ripe old age of twenty something, as he doesn't age like normal humans. He's working for the government, in the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, and basically, his job is to take care of any monsters or demons that harass civilians around the world. One particular demon pops into the storyline and Hellboy disposes of him, only to find that it's laying eggs that will bring more and more demons into the world. He must track down and destroy the eggs, the monsters that have already hatched, and figure out where all this came from.
The first thing that really irked the shit out of me about this movie, was the fact that the final scene was given away in the trailers. Seeing the final sequence play out and knowing what's about to happen because you've seen the commercial half a hundred times really isn't very cool. The whole mood is lost when there's a decently lengthy discussion going on, and you just know that at any second, that scene from the trailer is going to play out. Sadly, this is becoming a trend in Hollywood lately, and I don't much care for it.
Other than that, this movie was quite entertaining. I've never read the comics, so I couldn't tell you how good the adaptation was, but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this flick. Ron Pearlman does great in his role as Hellboy, he definitely gave the character some nice personality. Doug Jones as Abe Sapian is also pretty decent, though understandably underused in the movie. I wasn't too keen on Selma Blair as Liz Sherman, because she seems too ordinary and plain-jane in her role; almost as though any actress in Hollywood could have done an equal job in the role. That character should have had a bit more of a personality, I'd think.
The effects used throughout were great, that's definitely a thumbs up here. Abe, the fishman, is excellently done and looks just like you'd imagine a fishman to look. The fire that Selma puts out through her body is also nicely done, though I don't quite understand why it doesn't burn her clothes off (in storyline terms). Movie magic, I suppose. The monsters were also great, nice work with the CGI there; however, there could have been a bit of variety in the movie, even a nice opening sequence with some other type of monster just to get things going. Seeing Hellboy fight one after the other (after the other) of the same creature just got a bit old, though thankfully, there was a lot of focus on other things throughout.
Hellboy himself also looked quite excellent. As I said, I've never read the comic, though I have seen them lying about at my local comic shop, and he does look true to the covers that I saw. No drastic changes to his overall appearance that I could tell, which is always a good thing; Hollywood seems to have a knack for changing the general look of comic heroes in adaptations.
Overall, a nice, play-it-safe action flick, though once again, nothing hugely memorable. Worth a rental when it hits DVD. 6/10.
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#1:
Crispy
- added September 9, 2004 at 7:26pm
Ok, so if you kill one of the demons, it becomes
two demons. Not a bad idea, but can somebody
explain to me how killing them all at the same
time is final, as opposed to just doubling them as
it should have logically done
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#2:
BuryMeAlive
- added May 16, 2005 at 6:46pm
Cause you killed all the eggs in one time, see
before it was two eggs became monster after the
first monster died.
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#3:
.
- added September 13, 2005 at 8:47pm
Highly disappointing movie.
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#4:
Strait Killa
- added March 30, 2006 at 1:24am
couldn't stand it
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#5:
bluemeanie
- added May 3, 2006 at 2:00am
Not very good at all. Ron Perlman was great, but
he is always great to me. I thought there were a
few redeeming qualities, and it was better than
most comic book adaptations, but run-of-the-mill
doesn't cut it with me these days. 5/10.
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#6:
Griffinheart
- added September 5, 2007 at 11:39pm
There's one scene in the sewers where the editors
obviously mirrored the footage (for whatever
reason, maybe to keep continuity of what sewer
tunnel they came from...or something). Hellboy's
Right Hand of Doom is on his left arm for a small
scene.
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#7:
Rik
- added July 3, 2008 at 11:53am
I can't believe this is the same guy who did Pan's
Labyrinth.
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#8:
Mr. Mistoffelees
- added July 13, 2008 at 11:28pm
I thought this was pretty good. I had pretty good
acting and some exciting action, and although I
never read the comics, I thought it was a pretty
good comic book adaptation. Better than Fantastic
Four or Daredevil I assure you. 7/10.
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#9:
MerrysMiko
- added July 30, 2008 at 10:37pm
Del Toro has a history of using movies as proving
grounds for future projects. Hellboy is no
exception. In fact, the proving ground for
Hellboy, if you look closely at the Sammael fight
scenes, was Blade II (which was bloody godawful).
The makeup/prosthetics workshop technology from
Hellboy went on to make Pan's Labyrinth, which in
turn was a proving ground for much of the
"fairy folk" in Hellboy II: The Golden
Army (which was FANTASTIC). Yes it was campy, yes
the Sammys got repetitive, yes there could've been
more character development. But yanno, that's what
the sequel is for. Fabulous acting from Perlman
("From old Jew to young superhero! I love
this job!"), some nice oneliners, and great
on-screen chemistry from the cast. This is and
will remain one of my favorite movies of all time.
9/10
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#10:
Lucid Dreams
- added February 23, 2010 at 2:51pm
Not a fan of Selma Blair, but I liked this movie.
8/10
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