Quick Rating:  **

 
 
Another comic book movie, this one based on the Dark Horse comic of the same name.  Now, I am a comic book fan, but I never read Hellboy.  So I can't really comment on the film's adherence to the source media.  What I will comment on is the movie itself.  I wasn't very impressed.  Yes, it had the special effects and action one would expect from a popcorn summer movie.  And it looked cool, with interesting sets, colors, situations.  But I never really got into these characters.  The movie had no real point for me.  All the magic/occult stuff just didn't sit right with me.  And I thought the comedy was lame.  How many times do I have to hear Ron Perlman unexcitedly say "oh crap" ??
 
Anyway, hellboy is discovered in 1944, during WWII, when the Nazis (with help from Rasputin) open a portal to the 7 gods of Chaos  (or something like that).  The allies are able to stop them, but not before the portal was open for a short period of time.  Through the doorway came a little red dude.  He looks like a devil, and they named him Hellboy.
 
In the 60 years since, he's been working for the FBI, on the side of good.  He files down his horns, has an affinity for kittens, loves to eat, especially Baby Ruths, and fights evil demonic creatures.  Him, and some fish dude, discovered on the day Lincoln was shot.
 
So most of the movie consists of the good guys beating up on bad guys, and vice versa. There's a lot of characters thrown in here and there... and they really have no purpose.  (What was the deal with the blonde Nazi chick?  Was her role meaningful?).  And while Ron Perlman looked the part, I just found his performance bland.  Maybe he got the character right, I don't know, but either way, he's a pretty uninteresting character.  You know, for a 7 foot tall devil man.   Overall, I'd say it's an average comic book action flick.
 


 

 
 

Quality: 4.0  Visuals: 6.0  Intensity: 4.5 
OVERALL RATING: 4.8