Adventure film, released in 2004. It was written and directed by
Guillermo del Toro, based on the
comic book by
Mike Mignola. The stars included
Ron Perlman as Hellboy,
John Hurt as Professor Trevor Bruttenholm,
Selma Blair as Liz Sherman,
Rupert Evans as John Myers,
Doug Jones as Abe Sapien (with
David Hyde Pierce providing Abe's voice),
Karel Roden as
Rasputin,
Jeffrey Tambor as Dr. Manning,
Ladislov Beran as Kroenen,
Corey Johnson as Agent Clay, and
Bridget Hodson as Ilsa.
The story should be familiar to anyone who has read Mignola's comic books: Hellboy is a
demon from
Hell, summoned by the
Nazis during
World War II (including the infamous Grigori Rasputin) but captured and raised to adulthood by the
Allies. Now working as an agent of the top-secret
Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, Hellboy and his fellow agents, including the
telepathic fishman Abe Sapien, the psychologically-
fragile pyrokinetic Liz Sherman, and 100%-totally-normal John Myers, work to foil a plot by a group of
immortal Nazis to
destroy the world.
Mike Mignola's
dark,
action-packed stories -- and particularly his
characterization of Hellboy as a big red demon with filed-off horns, a
gruff and
sarcastic demeanor (with a
soulful, almost
mournful, inner core), and a thoroughly
blue-collar attitude to investigating the
paranormal and/or kicking monsters' butts -- make for surprisingly
addictive reading, and it's not at all hard to find yourself collecting every single Hellboy comic book that gets released. So I went into the theater with
high hopes for this movie -- and I still found myself surprised by how
good the flick was.
Ron Perlman gets tons and tons of
credit for making this movie so much fun. Yes, his
makeup makes him look exactly like the comic book character, but Perlman also gets Hellboy's
character down perfectly. He's a
burly,
brawling,
stogie-chomping,
beer-chugging
tough guy who also loves
kittens, his fellow BPRD agents,
children, and most passionately, Liz Sherman. Perlman's Hellboy is never far removed from his soulful,
sensitive side, even when pounding
tentacled horrors from beyond. He may wish he looked like a
normal man, but he's still one of the most
human characters in the film.
While the film throws the comic book fans some treats (H.B.'s love of
pancakes and a very, very brief cameo by
Roger the Homunculus, for example), it also expands a number of minor characters from the comic book into satisfying and enjoyable larger roles, including Professor Bruttenholm, the Nazi assassin Kroenen, and uptight bureaucrat Manning. The modern suit-wearing Rasputin is also an improvement on the comic, where he was just another posturing,
megalomaniacal villain.
In fact, "Hellboy" seems to be one of those rare comic book movies that don't require you to be a slavering
fanboy to enjoy it. My brother, who's never read the "Hellboy" comic (or any other comics, actually), got just as much
enjoyment out of the movie as I did.
Action fans will find lots of stuff to enjoy, from H.B.'s many battles with the
Sammael demons to Kroenen's wild
clockwork fight scenes to a number of really excellent
explosions. But there's also enough
characterization, sharp
dialogue, and
vulnerability in the film to keep other moviegoers happy as well. However, comic fans will be the ones who get the most joy out of this movie -- "Hellboy" is one of the most
faithful translations I've ever seen of a comic book to the silver screen, exceeded only by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's "
Sin City" movie.
Making "Hellboy" was one of del Toro's
dream projects, and he actually passed up the chance to direct "
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" in order to make this one. He also provided the
voices for Baby Hellboy, Ivan the corpse, the Sammael demons, and Kroenen.
Favorite bit of trivia: When Mignola and del Toro were discussing making the movie, they asked each other who they wanted to play Hellboy. They decided to count to three, then reveal their chosen actor at the same time. Both picked Ron Perlman.
Some research from the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com)