How sad is this?

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

One of my favorite movies. Hellboy is one of the those movies I didn't truly appreciate when I first saw it. I first saw it on Cable TV in a hotel when I was a kid. As a kid I enjoyed it, but I didn't think of it as anything more than just action film. a good one, but as a kid, I never saw it as anymore. On re-watching it as an adult, I Find it may be one of my favorite films ever. Guillermo Del Toro, in tradition, turns Pulp into Poetry. Hellboy has some of his best defined characters.Hellboy is the reverse chosen one. Instead of the farm boy destined to prophecieded to save the world, He is told to destroy. But thanks to the nurturing of Professor Broom, He decides to fight for everything good and just.What keeps this entire dilemma engaging is Hellboy's constant attitude. He is a hero, and you root for him. But it's very visible that if the wrong thing happened, He could turn to the dark side.Anyone self conscious will relate to Hellboy, and for the record Hellboy and LIz is easily one of the best movie couples ever. This movie is fantastic.

In late 1944 a group of Nazis, with the help of Rasputin, the 'Mad Monk' who didn't die as history told us, attempt to open a portal to a demonic realm hoping to unleash various demonic forces. They are stopped by a group of US soldiers guided by Professor Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm. One demon comes through the portal; a young red demon with one outsized hand, horns and a tail. Cutting forward to the present day the demon, dubbed 'Hellboy' has grown up and is working for a US government agency that deals with paranormal threats. We are introduced to this agency as Agent John Myers arrives for his first day working there.It turns out that two of the Nazis survived and are apparently unaged; they resurrect Rasputin before summoning a hellhound known as Sammael. Hellboy manages to defeat the Sammael but there is a complication; every time it is killed two more soon appear! As well as dealing with Rasputin, the Nazis and the Sammaels Hellboy has another problem; he has feelings for a girl named Liz, who can start fires, but can't bring himself to tell her how he feels. To make matters worse she seems to be getting closer to Agent Meyers. Inevitably there will be final confrontation as Rasputin tries to force Hellboy to open the portal and begin the apocalypse.This is certainly different to most superhero moves; not only is Hellboy a demon but apart from being very strong and impervious to fire he doesn't have the usual wide range of superpowers. He is also officially denied and has no human alter ego… he is always Hellboy. Director Guillermo del Toro does a great job bringing the story to the screen; not that I was too surprised as he seems to understand how to do monsters and other fantastical creatures. Ron Perlman is great in the role; he gives us a delightfully grumpy yet witty hero. The villains are suitable evil; Nazis are good go-tos when you want a nasty villain and Karl Ruprecht Kroenen is particularly menacing thanks to his mask and the fact that he appears to be less than human. If that weren't enough we have Rasputin; a menace from Tsarist Russia and the Sammaels which are impressive CGI creations. As well as Hellboy there are other impressive 'good guys'; Selma Blair is good, if a little underused, as Liz; Rupert Evans did a fine job as Agent Meyers and John Hurt brings a touch of class as the older Prof Broom. Doug Jones was also rather fun as Abe Sapien, an aquatic supernatural creature with some interesting powers. There is a good amount of varied action which features impressive special effects. Overall I enjoyed this more than I expected and would certainly recommend it to fans of the superhero genre especially if you want something a little different.

Hellboy is a cool film. It has action, it has humour, it has heart, it has a truckload of kitties - now what's not to like!? It is a frankly a bad-ass movie, with a bad-ass song; Nick Cave's Red Right Hand, here performed by Pete Yorn. That scene alone is worth a couple of stars in the rating, that's how good it is. Hellboy is also a rather dark superhero film, featuring Nazi scientists where specially the gas mask clad Dr. Kroenen sticks out from the crowd as he suffers from severe body dysmorphic disorder. Another noteworthy beast is Sammael; the "Hound of Resurrection", kill one of these monsters and two shall rise. It is a funky bunch. And I have always found it peculiar that Hellboy 2 gets a higher rating here on IMDb. It is a much lighter story and honestly, If I want to watch disgruntled trolls, then I put on the 80s classic fairy-tale Labyrinth. In Hellboy 2 the grittiness that made the first movie is replaced by slapstick and creatures which seem aimed at a much younger audience. I rather watch Hellboy 1 twice in a row than bother with the sequel. H1 gets 8/10. H2 a mere 5/10 (and that's being quite generous.. it does feature a song by Eels).

This movie is the film adaptation of the comic with the same name, and tells the story of a creature from another dimension, with demonic appearance, which was found by US troops on a special mission in Scotland, designed to neutralize the efforts of German occultists to mobilize magical forces for World War II. With direction and script by Guillermo del Toro's, it has a cast headed by Ron Perlman, John Hurt, Selma Blair, Karel Roden and Doug Jones.I was never a fan of films made from comics as it's a kind of film full of graphics normally seen in this kind of literature. For me, film is film, and a comic is a comic. This movie positively surprised me as it moves away from the graphic look of the comic- books, bringing the story to a more realistic scenario. The theme of the story, hanging around the magical and occult, it's also interesting and appealing. An ancient philosopher, who I don't remember the name, said that hell was more appealing than the sky because it's more mysterious, and he had some reason. The script was well thought out, blending action, romance and adventure in perfect doses. The cast also fulfilled well it's role but it wasn't particularly surprising. The special, visual and sound effects are excellent and do a good job, as the scenarios. The soundtrack, despite the good performance, not surprised also. In fact, what is most lacking in this film is precisely the element of surprise. It's a constantly warm film, never robbing us that emotion or shock feeling. Maybe if the script had been thought differently... The highlight of the film, in the end, can be really touching, which is a positive, even though the best time of the entire film.This film is full of interesting and favorable points, and it's of the few comics-based films that can break free of the stylized look of these magazines. Unfortunately, it lacks a certain amount of surprise, excitement and intensity that just don't pour the film to lose because, even then, is a film that looks good and is entertaining enough for a family audience, although is never hot enough to scald the most demanding audience.