Movie Review: Hellboy

Hellboy: Torgo approves

Hellboy is a good follow-up to X-Men 3. It's another comic book movie, but with a much lower budget and a much lighter feel. Sure, it's about a creature from hell brought into this world by a late-WWII Nazi experiment gone awry, but in a fun way.

Hellboy benefits from a number of key elements. First, Ron Perlman is perfect for the title role. I read that the studio wanted Vin Diesel. Though I don't think of Vin Diesel as an 'actor,' he would've been decent here, too. Hellboy requires a physically imposing presence, dry humor, and a love of both cigars and cats.

There's also John Hurt, Jeffrey Tambor, Selma Blair, and the voice of David Hyde Pierce, all of whom are quite good.

The plot is silly, but no one seems to take it too seriously, somewhat like Men in Black, though I'd say it's more effectively achieved here.

Director Guillermo del Toro clearly loves the source material, much like you can tell Sam Raimi loves Spider-Man. The movie feels like a comic book. Yet, whereas I think dark visuals and dark material can play awkwardly with humor and levity on the often overly-wrought pages of a comic book, on film del Toro finds the balance he needs and sustains it throughout the movie.

It's not a must-see classic. There are some clunky scenes. I didn't care for Rupert Evans' character; I found he detracted from the fun. But it's definitely worthwhile, even just for Ron Perlman's performance.