Review: Hellboy
April 4, 2004; Loew's Boston Common #1
* * * 1/4 (out of 4)
I had only read one Hellboy comic previous to seeing the movie; before that, I had barely heard of him. I admit, my comic interests were pretty limited to the writings of Brian Michael Bendis, or whatever weird things my brother could get me to like. As such, if this movie has self-referencing material, I'm pretty sure I missed it. But it didn't matter. This is a ride, and a damn good one.
Guillermo Del Toro gives us the story of Hellboy (Ron Perlman, a wise-cracking, adolescent-minded demon who has become the major fighting force in the United Stat es' Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, a black-sheep branch of the FBI. The story is told somewhat from the perspective of Agent John Myers (Rupert Evans), but that seems solely to give the audience an Average Joe to identify with; Myers quickly gets lost in the supernatural surroundings created by his new coworkers. This is really the story of Hellboy, fish-man Abe Sapien (the body of Doug Jones with the voice of David Hyde Pierce), and pyrokinetic Liz Sherman (Selma Blair). Hellboy's action-oriented style mixed with Abe's ability to see both the past and future give the evil-fighting aspect, while Hellboy's dedication to Liz gives the emotional/romantic aspect.
Hellboy's origin is perfectly explained in the movie, so I'll leave it to do that. The conflict here is that Rasputin (Karel Roden), the crazed Russian monk, has returned from the dead and is once again trying to open a portal that would let all sorts of evil into the world. Naturally, Hellboy can't allow this to happen, so he begins to fight back, starting with the hellhound Same-el. From the initial battle up through Hellboy's final encounter with Rasputin's godly embodiment, Hellboy wisecracks and pummels his way in fairly typical action fare. But it is done very, very well.
What wins this movie for me was Perlman's portrayal of Hellboy. Though born via a portal 60 years earlier, because Hellboy is a demon, he does not age as we do. Though 60 years have passed for his 'father' in the film, Hellboy is barely into his 20s. Beyond that, Perlman plays him perfectly as a rebelling teenager, especially when it comes to anything concerning Liz, on whom Hellboy has a significant crush. At their first meeting in the movie, Hellboy is so awkward he can barely look her in the eye, much like a boy confronting his interest for the first time. Later, when Agent Myers asks Liz out for coffee, Hellboy follows them, and acts in entirely immature ways that are downright hilarious coming from a 6'5", bright-red demon. Even more to Perlman's credit is the quality of expression from Hellboy's movements, face, and especially his eyes. An impressive feat, considering the pounds of makeup and latex he must have been under every day on set.
Del Toro's direction is beautiful, if a little dark. He seems to be following the trend of Underworld (a trend he contributed to himself with Blade II) in using far too little light in far too much of the movie. He does not go to the extreme of Underworld because at least in his movie we can see what his characters look like in normal lighting. Alternately, the exposition of Hellboy's 1940 origin is beautifully shot in war-movie perfection; dark, grim, impersonal, and eliciting every bit of Nazi-hating as an Indiana Jones movie. His writing is smart, Hellboy's dialogue is sharp, and his action sequences are fun to watch, if only a little short at times.
Hellboy is a success for Del Toro and Ron Perlman in their collaboration on the character. They are able to take a demon and make a truly human character, better than a lot of filmmakers can do with characters and heroes who actually are human. But with this focus comes some loss in the action. I don't feel like the advertisements portrayed the film accurately, as I walked in expecting more Hellboy kicking ass than I got. In addition, many of the battles seemed incredibly short, especially the final battle. Were this promoted as a action-comedy about Hellboy growing up instead of the Hellboy kicking tail that I expected, I think I would have gone in with a different mentality, and enjoyed it a little more. But it is fun, nevertheless, and even with its shortcomings it is still one of the best action movies out thus far this year..
April 4, 2004; Loew's Boston Common #1
* * * 1/4 (out of 4)
I had only read one Hellboy comic previous to seeing the movie; before that, I had barely heard of him. I admit, my comic interests were pretty limited to the writings of Brian Michael Bendis, or whatever weird things my brother could get me to like. As such, if this movie has self-referencing material, I'm pretty sure I missed it. But it didn't matter. This is a ride, and a damn good one.
Guillermo Del Toro gives us the story of Hellboy (Ron Perlman, a wise-cracking, adolescent-minded demon who has become the major fighting force in the United Stat es' Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, a black-sheep branch of the FBI. The story is told somewhat from the perspective of Agent John Myers (Rupert Evans), but that seems solely to give the audience an Average Joe to identify with; Myers quickly gets lost in the supernatural surroundings created by his new coworkers. This is really the story of Hellboy, fish-man Abe Sapien (the body of Doug Jones with the voice of David Hyde Pierce), and pyrokinetic Liz Sherman (Selma Blair). Hellboy's action-oriented style mixed with Abe's ability to see both the past and future give the evil-fighting aspect, while Hellboy's dedication to Liz gives the emotional/romantic aspect.
Hellboy's origin is perfectly explained in the movie, so I'll leave it to do that. The conflict here is that Rasputin (Karel Roden), the crazed Russian monk, has returned from the dead and is once again trying to open a portal that would let all sorts of evil into the world. Naturally, Hellboy can't allow this to happen, so he begins to fight back, starting with the hellhound Same-el. From the initial battle up through Hellboy's final encounter with Rasputin's godly embodiment, Hellboy wisecracks and pummels his way in fairly typical action fare. But it is done very, very well.
What wins this movie for me was Perlman's portrayal of Hellboy. Though born via a portal 60 years earlier, because Hellboy is a demon, he does not age as we do. Though 60 years have passed for his 'father' in the film, Hellboy is barely into his 20s. Beyond that, Perlman plays him perfectly as a rebelling teenager, especially when it comes to anything concerning Liz, on whom Hellboy has a significant crush. At their first meeting in the movie, Hellboy is so awkward he can barely look her in the eye, much like a boy confronting his interest for the first time. Later, when Agent Myers asks Liz out for coffee, Hellboy follows them, and acts in entirely immature ways that are downright hilarious coming from a 6'5", bright-red demon. Even more to Perlman's credit is the quality of expression from Hellboy's movements, face, and especially his eyes. An impressive feat, considering the pounds of makeup and latex he must have been under every day on set.
Del Toro's direction is beautiful, if a little dark. He seems to be following the trend of Underworld (a trend he contributed to himself with Blade II) in using far too little light in far too much of the movie. He does not go to the extreme of Underworld because at least in his movie we can see what his characters look like in normal lighting. Alternately, the exposition of Hellboy's 1940 origin is beautifully shot in war-movie perfection; dark, grim, impersonal, and eliciting every bit of Nazi-hating as an Indiana Jones movie. His writing is smart, Hellboy's dialogue is sharp, and his action sequences are fun to watch, if only a little short at times.
Hellboy is a success for Del Toro and Ron Perlman in their collaboration on the character. They are able to take a demon and make a truly human character, better than a lot of filmmakers can do with characters and heroes who actually are human. But with this focus comes some loss in the action. I don't feel like the advertisements portrayed the film accurately, as I walked in expecting more Hellboy kicking ass than I got. In addition, many of the battles seemed incredibly short, especially the final battle. Were this promoted as a action-comedy about Hellboy growing up instead of the Hellboy kicking tail that I expected, I think I would have gone in with a different mentality, and enjoyed it a little more. But it is fun, nevertheless, and even with its shortcomings it is still one of the best action movies out thus far this year..
posted by Matt S. at
11:47 AM
