The title character, played to perfection by Ron Perlman, is hard to miss with his red flesh, horns, and single gigantic fist. Most times when comic book stars are brought to film they sport dark leather outfits and the more unreal elements in their character designs are toned down. Here director/writer Guillermo del Toro embraces the look of Hellboy and it works great! Fans should be happy. There is some great action to be had, but overall it was the quirkiness and personality of the film and its characters that won me over. The characters are unreal but they have real problems. Hellboy cuts off his horns and Liz hides her powers to try and fit in. The rebellious Hellboy and his “father” (Hurt) have many disagreements oftentimes leading to the big red one being grounded. In one moment Hellboy is battling and violently dispatching a beast from hell and the next he’s jealously watching Liz (Selma Blair) with another man from a rooftop while enjoying milk and cookies and getting advice from a nine year old boy. Scenes like these are hilarious and capture the essence of the film.

It’s not without its flaws however. There should be a sequel and hopefully a couple of this one’s shortcomings will be tweaked giving us an even better film (ala X2) next time around. I really dug the badass, double-bladed Kroenen, but aside from him I found the other human villains (Ilsa and Rasputin) to be rather dull and poorly acted. It was also a bit of a shame to see Hellboy fighting identical monsters over and over again. I guess that’s what you get with a “small” budget. I will also say though that for a lower budget action movie the special effects and monster work were very good. And if the villains needed Hellboy why did they keep trying to kill him?! Hellboy won’t be for everyone, but it’s action packed and filled with enjoyable characters with personality and heart and that makes this a standout in the genre. Ron Perlman was made to play the part of Hellboy.

I saw this film at Cinemark’s Tinseltown 17 Theater on Peach Street in Erie, PA.

(04-0408)