Viewed in
2008
Premise
Our beloved grumpy Hellboy must stop an ancient beast prince from wiping out humanity.
Who should watch
Those in the mood for an action movie with a sense of humor and visual creativity.
Thoughts
This was a very cute action movie. Please note this was a different kind of cute.
Naturally, the best part of the film was Ron Perlman as the quirky main character, Hellboy. He was rude, quick-tempered, but also had a child-like charm. His teammates were also quirky, especially the new addition, Johann Kraus. It was just cute to watch them fall in love, bicker, drink beer and listen to Barry Manilow. One of the funniest scenes was when Hellboy gets into a fight with a Kraus, who happens to be made of gaseous substance.
In addition to the comedy and characters, there was some visually exciting stuff from Guillermo del Toro. Unlike most CGI-happy film makers, del Toro utilized some savvy puppetry to create his great tapestry of weird creatures.
Many people said this film reminded them of 'Pan's Labyrinth' and the Cantina scene of 'Star Wars IV'. I felt this film most closely resembled 'Men in Black'. The whole tone of the film was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but was painted with creative and original creatures who still had human behavior.
Even if you have not watched the first in this quirky series, I think everyone can enjoy this film, thanks to the charm of Hellboy.
What I would change
As someone who's seen plenty of comic book movies and anime, I found some scenes were predictable.
