HELLBOY by Guillermo del Toro
The love of twentysomething troubled outsider “Hellboy” and pyromaniac Liz isn’t helped by the fact that Hellboy is a big red demon with a tail and a huge fist of stone who was conjured by the Nazis in World War II to bring destruction to mankind; and Liz being a Pyrokinetic barely able to control her psychic powers. US professor Bruttenholm raised Hellboy like his own son, and the demon from hell is very human despite his origin and appearance. He’s also not too happy about being kept hidden from the public in the ultra-secret “Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense” where it’s his job to protect the world from occult threats (think big and ugly monsters).
The movie works best when dealing with the heros’ characters – for example when Hellboy sneaks out of his vault to secretly follow his new colleague John (fresh from the FBI to the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense) who takes out Liz for coffee. The big red demon hides on the top of a roof, jealously watching John flirting with Liz while discussing relationship problems with a nine-year-old boy – a surreal setting, made totally believable by the dedicated director and his fine cast.
Unfortunately, the bad guys are not nearly as well crafted as the good guys – there is Rasputin (evil), there are some lovecraftian monsters (slimy and tentacled), and there is Nazi-zombie Kroenen who should have gotten some more screen-time. The action-sequences and FX are OK but not overwhelming and somewhat redundant (Hellboy kicks slimy monster, Hellboy kicks another slimy monster ….)
If you are a comic-fan – go and watch!
