Let’s look back in the year 1992, a comic book company called “Dark Horse Comics,” introduced a character superhero called “Hellboy.” A half-human, half-demon, who works for a supernatural government agency (a Men In Black type of agency) by hunting down monsters, nazis, and demons. Over the years, the character become an instant hit among comic readers. By the way Hellboy, Spawn & Harley Quinn made their solo debuts in 1992. A year before I was born.
In 2004, (same year Spider-Man 2 came out) Spanish filmmaker, Guillermo Del Toro, (Pan’s Labyrinth, Pacific Rim) wrote and directed a live action adaptation based on the comic book of the same, starring Ron Perlman as Hellboy. The film was a box office hit and it was well received by critics, comic book readers, and movie goers a like. Due to the critical and commercial success, a sequel called Hellboy II: The Golden Army was released theee years later, sadly this was the last film to star Perlman until a future reboot with Stranger Things star, David Harbor (also known as Sheriff Jim Hopper) taking over the part.
Because of the announcement of the upcoming reboot in 2019 and Hellboy is gonna be featured as a DLC character in Injustice 2, I wanted to write this featured article for those who have never seen or heard of the character, to get you guys and gals familiar with him.
This article doesn’t feature any SPOILERS. Feel free to read it, just in case if you haven’t got a chance to watch this picture. Does the film still hold up to this day? Let’s find out shall we?
Hot & Cold Qualities
Hot: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, & David Hyde Pearce, all did a fantastic job on their performances as Hellboy, Liz Sherman, & Abe Sapien.
Supporting Cast such as John Hurt, & Jeffery Tambor, also did a decent job for their performances with Hurt playing Professor Broom who is Hellboy’s adopted father, and Larry Sanders’ sidekick, (Tambor’s role in The Larry Sanders Show) played Tom Manning, a B.R.P.D. agent who’s very skeptical on Hellboy’s involvement with the government.
Opening Scene shows us where Hellboy came from in the first place.
Action Sequences are filled with dark magic, fire, gunplay, fist fights, and swordplay, all in one package.
Guillermo Del Toro did a great job directing the film & staying true to the source material.
Chemistry between Hellboy & Liz felt alright. The romance didn’t shove it down my throat, it felt appropriate. I’m glad it wasn’t forced.
Prosthetic Makeup was used to apply Perlman’s appearance as the titular character alongside Abe Sapien. They weren’t made with C.G.I. those were real actors playing the parts.
Besides Prosthetic Makeup, Practical Effects were heavily used to bring creatures to life. Del Toro has a lot of experience designing creatures. Doug Jones (a frequent collaborator of Del Toro) physically portrayed Abe Sapien, even though David Hyde Pierce provided Abe’s voice, he did good on bringing Abe to life without the use of C.G.I.
If you’ve seen the film, guess what Hellboy’s catchphrase is?
The film has a few Funny Moments such as Hellboy’s snarky one liners.
In my opinion, Hellboy’s Best Line is, “I’m fireproof, you’re not!”
An Easter Egg featuring a made up 1960’s Silver Age Hellboy comic book, incorporated into the film with Dark House Comics as it’s publisher. (which is the actual company that created Hellboy)
Without giving too much away, a Mid-Credits Scene shows us what happened to one of the other characters Hellboy disliked.
Cold: Product Placement featuring certain brands including Baby Ruth, Dunkin Donuts, Coor’s Light & Red Bull. I’ll let this con slide, because I couldn’t find any other brand to shove down my throat.
The Climatic Battle felt short. As Ron Burgundy would say, “Boy, that escalated quickly!” It could’ve been a bit longer.
The Final Verdict: A-
In my opinion, I thought Hellboy was very good. If it weren’t for The Climatic Battle near the end of the film, I would’ve given this an A for Apex. It wasn’t that bad from beginning to end. I highly recommend this picture if you are a fan of comic books or superhero movies, give this one a go.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 