"Hellboy" - Justice Served
by Homer Yen
(c) 2004
"Hellboy" may be mostly eye candy. But there's a
certain level of dedication from the filmmakers
that helps this offering get more mileage than it
probably should. You certainly feel it when you
see it, whether it's the beautifully envisioned
snowy landscapes, the revivalist decor of the
secret government facilities, or the foreboding
catacombs. And the characters of the virtually
indestructible "Hellboy" (Ron Perlman) and his
aquatic and psychic companion, Abe Sapien (Doug
Jones), are inspired efforts in make-up and
imagination. I believe we have new frontrunners
for the coolest costume design when Halloween
time comes.
The opening sequence takes us back to late-WWII
as Nazi's fashion a desperate attempt to open a
portal to another dimension, hoping to coax to
our world several Gods of Chaos. The US forces
intervene and, for the most part, manage to foil
their plan. Fast forward to the present day and
what we learn is that a devilish little creature
was captured at the site of the portal. It has
been tucked away at a secret facility within the
Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, a
sprawling place of research laboratories.
Hellboy has now grown up into an unseen
superhero. His unique qualities provide him with
tremendous strength and resolve. The way he
speaks in that master-of-the-universe tone, the
way he incessantly chomps his cigar, and the way
he approaches every mission with a cavalier
recklessness makes him into a formidable
crimefighter. He seems to have learned his craft
from the Bruce Willis School for Tough Guys.
But filmgoers nowadays don't care all that much
about a person that's all brawn. It's nice to
know that there is a softer side to this
muscleman. He actually has an issue about
fitting in. In fact, he uses a high-powered
sander to shave his horns down to their stumps.
This angle, however, feels somewhat artificial,
as many of us, I believe, would rather be more
like Hellboy. After all, who wouldn't want to
achieve his mythical status?
More poignant is his deep sense of loneliness as
he constantly yearns for his old flame, Liz
Sherman (Selma Blair). The term 'flame' is
appropriate, as she is a special kind of being
that erupts and shoots forth fire when she gets
excited. These two, we quickly discern, are made
for each other. There is a great scene as the
two embrace each other in a heated kiss. Both
become engulfed in blue flames. And, of course,
Hellboy, as we learn, is impervious to fire.
The film is a bonanza of special effects,
computer-animated artistry, and costume design.
You can easily feel a sense of comic book
liveliness. Normally, that is not enough to
merit a recommendation. But, there's an
undeniable beauty to this film that assuaged my
concern about it being a bit weak in story. As
far as how fun it was to watch, it's more
interesting than "Men in Black," but it's less
fun than "X-Men." "Hellboy" is certainly more of
a technical achievement than a storytelling
achievement. But it should be applauded for its
unwavering intent to bring to life the dark
universe in which it exists and the eccentric and
bizarre characters that inhabit it.
Grade: B-
S: 0 out of 3
L: 0 out of 3
V: 1 out of 3
========== X-RAMR-ID: 37539 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1270813 X-RT-TitleID: 1131153 X-RT-AuthorID: 1370 X-RT-RatingText: B-
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews