Hellboy

Hellboy opened at the top of the box office and did something that most movies would have struggled to do: it gave Passion of the Christ a run for its Easter money. I'm glad that the film has done well, at least finacially. After all Guillermo del Toro has wanted to make his movie for a long time and has worked very hard to get it done and to get it done his way.

One of the things he fought for was the casting of Ron Perlman as Hellboy. I am very glad that the studio finally caved in and granted the request. I can't imagine anyone else playing this part. Perlman not only had the build for the part was also able to emote from underneath all the protestics and make us care about the character. After all, the great thing about Hellboy isn't any fancy power that he has or even his nifty backstory. You can't even say that he's the "world's greatest paranormal dectetive" without meaning it ironically. What makes Hellboy a rich and interesting character is the way he's written. He's a regular blue collar guy who just wants to rest, eat some nachos and drink some beer. He just wants to be happy and who can't empathize with that.

The film's supporting characters are also first rate. David Hyde Pierce lends his voice to the character of Abe Sapien and brings a real humanity to the part. We can feel Abe's love of literature and even his fondness for Hellboy and Liz Sherman. Liz, played by Selma Blair, is a little vague but comes off quite well. While all the characters are nice, they are best used to underscore a point about Hellboy himself.

The only real problem with the movie is the plot. Seed of Destruction, which the movie takes most of its plot from, is not the best story to base a movie on. It's not really structured so much like a detective story nor is it really an action piece. As with most of Mignola's best work it is a great mood piece. Which is the film's problem, it is a great mood story but the story falls apart about halfway through the second act (and lies in shambles by the end of the third).

I won't get into the logically problems of the movie, nor will I rant about how you should structure a story but suffice it to say that Rasputin, who was touted as the high priest of evil incarnate, doesn't hold together well. Part of this is the actor's, Karel Roden, fault but a larger part is the the story loses steam after the destruction of Sammael.

I absouletely recommend this movie though. The visuals are very imaginative and the characters are well done and well played. It's just a pity the story wasn't stronger so as to best highlight the film's strengths.