Hellboy (2004)

Introduction:

Combine the horror genre with superheroes and you could come up with something pretty interesting.  Bring in a director who has an excellent visual style and how can this not work?

Summary:

An extended pre-credit sequence shows us the origin of Hellboy (Ron Perlman) - it involves Nazis and Rasputin (Karel Roden). Jump to present day and the demonic lad with the heart of gold and a soft spot for kittens is fighting the forces of evil with a band of super humans. This includes the pyro-kinetic Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) and the half human/half fish Abe Sapien (Doug Jones). Guided by Trevor Bruttenholm (John Hurt) the group finds themselves facing Rasputin again as the mysterious wizard attempts to bring about the end of the world. Isn’t that always the way?

Good Points:

• Some excellent visual sequences with classic del Toro moments
• Perlman makes the whole movie work with his take on the character
• An exciting musical score by Marco Beltrami

Bad Points:

• The pacing seems off the whole movie
• Goes a bit overboard with exposition
• The main villains weren’t too memorable

Overall:

I wanted to like Hellboy more than I turned out liking it. There are plenty of great scenes and some very funny conversations. But overall the movie ends up dragging too often. And when you’ve got Rasputin as your main villain that’s pretty tough to pull off. Still not a bad way to spend a lazy Sunday, especially if you don’t mind a bit of darkness in your superhero flick.

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals: 4

Sound: 4

Acting: 3

Script: 3

Music: 4

Direction: 4

Entertainment: 3

Total:  3

Curious about a full review, sent me an email and I’ll make additional thoughts to this review.