Review: First "HELLBOY" Film Still Dances with the Devil

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 45 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Hellboy (2004)

Running time:  122 minutes (2 hours, 2 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for sci-fi action violence and frightening images

DIRECTOR:  Guillermo del Toro

WRITERS:  Guillermo del Toro; from screen story by Peter Briggs & Guillermo del Toro (based upon the comic book by Mike Mignola)

PRODUCERS:  Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin, and Mike Richardson

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Guillermo Navarro

EDITOR:  Peter Amundson

COMPOSER:  Marco Beltrami

HORROR/ACTION/ADVENTURE and SCI/FANTASY

Starring:  Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Jeffrey Tambor, Karel Roden, Rupert Evans, John Hurt, Corey Johnson, Doug Jones, Brian Caspe, James Babson, Biddy Hodson, Jim Howick, Kevin Trainor, and (voice) David Hyde Pierce

Hellboy is a 2004 American superhero and horror-fantasy film from director Guillermo del Toro.  The film is based upon the Hellboy comic book franchise and character created by writer-artist Mike Mignola.  Hellboy the movie focuses on a demon who becomes a defender against the forces of darkness after being conjured by the Nazis as an infant.

Mike Mignola’s titular character of his wonderful Hellboy comic books comes to life in director Guillermo del Toro’s colorful and well-dressed B-movie, Hellboy.  This horror/action flick is dry, slow, and even the action is deadpan, although there are a few funny and genuinely scary moments.  Now, I can describe a plethora of movies as having “a few good moments,” but this movie does have quite a few.

The film begins late in World War II.  A young scientist, Trevor “Broom” Bruttenholm (Kevin Trainor) and a squad of Allied soldiers come upon a group of Nazi kooks.  The kooks include the Russian mystic, Grigori Rasputin (Karel Roden), in the midst of a ritual to summon a group of big bow wow evil gods.  The Allies stop the evil that is coming “from the other side,” but something does slip through – a little demon kid they name Hellboy.

Sixty years later, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) is now an adult, having been raised by Trevor Bruttenholm (John Hurt).  Hellboy is the main man/strongman for "The Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense," which is a group fighting the good fight against all manner of bogeymen and boogens.  Our entry into this dark world of supernatural special operations is an FBI newbie, John Myers (Rupert Evans).  Myers comes just in time, as Rasputin and his gang of uglies are back to finish what they started six decades earlier.

Hellboy is a pleasant diversion, and it certainly is pretty to look at, featuring colorful art direction, set decoration, and makeup.  Hellboy looks a lot like Guillermo del Toro’s last film, Blade II, but whereas the latter had a dark atmosphere and a convincing, unbroken line of suspense, Hellboy is flat and too long to be as flat as it is.  Perlman is, at times, almost D.O.A. as the title character, and then, quite lively at other times.  I don’t think Perlman's interpretation of Hellboy really fits the comic book original version of the character.  The four color Hellboy is more humble and earthy, whereas Perlman’s creation often comes across as a cocky, uncouth roughneck.

Hellboy has excellent production values.  It is a great looking film, from its set and environments to its costumes and hair and make-up that transform actors into a menagerie of inventive and imaginative characters.  Still,I don't think audiences have to see Hellboy in a theater; they can save it for a rental.

5 of 10

B-

★★½ out of 4 stars

EDITED:  Saturday, March 1, 2025

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