Hellboy * * out of * * * *
Review by Josh Gilchrist (JoshGilch@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
)
While Comic Book Movies may be the new fad, I'm hoping that the trend will
quickly end its tenure of terrorizing the cinematic landscape. How many of
these half-assed films does an audience have to sit through before they
rise up
in dissention? It's true that comic books will forever be a viable
resource
for cinematic material, and that's probably a good thing. When done
properly,
these films give us an insight into the psychosis of the superhero,
usually one
with a dark past. When done wrong, the films are nonsense, filled with
ludicrous plot and dialogue.
Enter "Hellboy", director Guillermo del Toro's rendition of the popular
Dark
Horse comic which was created by Mike Mignola. The movie does have a
certain
sly wit at times, and some great set designs. The objection that most
people
are going to have with his film is that it's again a comic film made
strictly
for the fanboys. They're taking years of comic book plots and squishing
them
into one film, expecting those in the dark to understand what's going on.
I've
had the same problem with the two X-Men films, although those films were a
bit
easier to follow.
The film follows the antics of Hellboy (Ron Pearlman), who, thanks to a
hell-hole generator used by the Nazis in WWII, was transported to Earth as
a
toddler. He's then adopted by Professor Bruttenholm (John Hurt).
We cut ahead to present day and Professor Bruttenholm is still raising
Hellboy,
who still looks like a young man since apparently the Devil does not age
like
we do. Hellboy is a sarcastic handful who loves to smoke cigars and work
on
filing down the horns that grow on his head. His job on Earth, more
specifically in the New York-New Jersey area, is with the Bureau of
Paranormal
Research and Defense, fighting the creatures that go bump in the night.
Well, the Nazi foes, led by Grigori Rasputin, have returned to finish the
task
the Nazi Party tried to complete sixty years ago. Maybe these are the type
of
absurdities that turn off pedestrian viewers from movies such as this.
Yes,
these films tend to open well at the box office, thanks to the fan base
rushing
out to see them, but, unless they can connect with an audience on another
level, they see their box office numbers fall quickly.
What makes this film entertaining in parts is Pearlman's performance. He
seems
to be having fun with this role, even though the giant red suit he's
wearing
does look uncomfortable. At least he's able to bring in some energy. The
rest
of the cast makes the film feel like an amateurish B Movie. As Hellboy's
love
interest, Liz Sherman, Selma Blair is laughable in the way she maintains
the
same bored expression on her face. It's nice to see John Hurt still
working
but, even with his prestige, there's no redeeming this silly mess.
In one scene, Hellboy and Liz are sharing what is supposed to be a tender
moment outside a psychiatric center where Liz has been kept. The film's
most
awkward moment, it unearths the most damaging aspect of "Hellboy", an
unemotional tone. There's not an ounce of realism in this love story. Not
even
a moment of dramatic force at all. If we're not buying the more silent
moments
in the film, there's no way we're going to get too excited about the loud
and
noisy action sequences.
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X-RAMR-ID: 37627
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1274331
X-RT-TitleID: 1131153
X-RT-AuthorID: 5858
X-RT-RatingText: 2/4
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