Hellboy seems like a cool hero, and he deserves a better film than the one he gets here, which is too full of leaps in logic and extraordinarily inconsistent in tone. Like Superman, he seems to care enough for our world in order to save it from some pretty nefarious people when the time comes - perhaps chiefly because, like Superman, he doesn't actually have a home world of his own to go back to. He's cocky; confident and a little rebellious, although remains faithful to those who have taken care of him up to this point in his life. The film's beginning sets an odd, fantastical tone which does not really dissipate for the rest of its runtime. It's 1944, and despite the fact the Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles the Germans ever conquered during The Second World War, the Nazis are in Scotland. There, they are looking to end the war quickly; sensing, I suppose, defeat, what with their failing campaigns in North Africa and on the Eastern Front, and so turn to opening up portals to dimensions beyond our observable world in order to call upon higher powers to help them. But, how do they know if this unknown entity will be sympathetic to their aims? The imagery of the opening is also too reminiscent of "Raiders of the Lost Ark", which culminated in such a show - we are at a stage now in blockbuster cinema whereby a film like "Hellboy" decides to BEGIN with it.Alas, for the Nazis, something goes wrong in their experiment when the American (not British) soldiers, who have been tracking them all this way, launch an ambush to quash the mission. With them is a young professor named Trevor Bruttenholm, who is eventually played in his old age by John Hurt. In the ensuing chaos, something does indeed pop out of what was a gateway to Hell - the aforementioned and eponymous Hellboy: a small, red demon who is eventually played in his 'old' age by Ron Perlman, by which point he is a conspiracy theory amongst modern New Yorkers despite there being photographic evidence of him posing in a picture with the soldiers. Guillermo del Toro uses this set up to tell a tale which is mostly interested in set direction and costume, which makes a change to having to sit through a film of this stock which is mostly interested in action, although there is quite a bit of action... In the twenty-first century, Hellboy is kept in an FBI lockup with a variety of other quirky occultist stuff from non-history - he's at an age in his life now whereby he is bored, and craves action and adventure and quite likes the idea of having a girlfriend. Whatever it is they groom young demons to do in Hell, Hellboy isn't getting it here.Away from this, something is brewing - the Nazis who failed to win The War the first time around are gunning for another shot. In true "The Mummy" style, two of these Nazis, played by Karel Roden and Bridget Hodson, are able to live forever in a cursed state and set out with the intent to bring about the apocalypse anyway. On their side is an odd, machine-like tin-made ninja decked out in Nazi garb and a bizarre fish-like creature whose raw brawn they use to buttress their offensive.The thinking and the energy behind "Hellboy" is a lot more interesting than the finished product itself, which finds comfort in telling a tale of heroes fighting villains with the world at stake. More interesting are the characters, particularly the supporting ones who are all at once beautiful; terrifying; fascinating and ugly to look at - we sense they each have their own worlds, complete with complicated biological ecosystem to slot into, somewhere in the universe, just nowhere that we can imagine. The film seems to lose its focus too often, coming off as very wayward in tone as scenes of brutal violence involving villainous sword-play are intercut with sardonic putdowns from the protagonist. It also seemed as if there was a love story in an earlier draft, or cut altogether, involving a character who could not control the fire she could produce from the palms of her hands. The film ends up in deepest of snowy Russia and Hellboy being carted around in a box, but why bother hiding him if his identity is out by this point? And what do the Russian authorities think of an FBI entourage in their country anyway? Irrespective, "Hellboy" is a lot of good, harmless fun which fans of the genres of action, horror and science fiction should devour.

In late 1944 a group of Nazis, with the help of Rasputin, the 'Mad Monk' who didn't die as history told us, attempt to open a portal to a demonic realm hoping to unleash various demonic forces. They are stopped by a group of US soldiers guided by Professor Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm. One demon comes through the portal; a young red demon with one outsized hand, horns and a tail. Cutting forward to the present day the demon, dubbed 'Hellboy' has grown up and is working for a US government agency that deals with paranormal threats. We are introduced to this agency as Agent John Myers arrives for his first day working there.It turns out that two of the Nazis survived and are apparently unaged; they resurrect Rasputin before summoning a hellhound known as Sammael. Hellboy manages to defeat the Sammael but there is a complication; every time it is killed two more soon appear! As well as dealing with Rasputin, the Nazis and the Sammaels Hellboy has another problem; he has feelings for a girl named Liz, who can start fires, but can't bring himself to tell her how he feels. To make matters worse she seems to be getting closer to Agent Meyers. Inevitably there will be final confrontation as Rasputin tries to force Hellboy to open the portal and begin the apocalypse.This is certainly different to most superhero moves; not only is Hellboy a demon but apart from being very strong and impervious to fire he doesn't have the usual wide range of superpowers. He is also officially denied and has no human alter ego… he is always Hellboy. Director Guillermo del Toro does a great job bringing the story to the screen; not that I was too surprised as he seems to understand how to do monsters and other fantastical creatures. Ron Perlman is great in the role; he gives us a delightfully grumpy yet witty hero. The villains are suitable evil; Nazis are good go-tos when you want a nasty villain and Karl Ruprecht Kroenen is particularly menacing thanks to his mask and the fact that he appears to be less than human. If that weren't enough we have Rasputin; a menace from Tsarist Russia and the Sammaels which are impressive CGI creations. As well as Hellboy there are other impressive 'good guys'; Selma Blair is good, if a little underused, as Liz; Rupert Evans did a fine job as Agent Meyers and John Hurt brings a touch of class as the older Prof Broom. Doug Jones was also rather fun as Abe Sapien, an aquatic supernatural creature with some interesting powers. There is a good amount of varied action which features impressive special effects. Overall I enjoyed this more than I expected and would certainly recommend it to fans of the superhero genre especially if you want something a little different.

It is a lot of fun, it has a sense of humor...it is flawed.Hellboy is one of those movies that seems to suffer from a lack of elaboration. There are elements in the films that are beyond interesting, things that we as an audience would like to see more of, things that we would like to know more about.Unfortunately the film never goes into it and that is possibly because there was never an intent to turn Hellboy into an out and out franchise. Because of that the mythology that the movie hints at is only given a lip service and it is done to move the plot along.It is a shame. It touches enough on it's own little mythology that it could have been an X-Files style franchise with a superhero.Instead of that you get an entertaining movie and really little more. The elements are there but they had to move along.What remains is a fun film with a good sense of humor, an action movie that took a bit of time to develop a few characters and make sure to give the others a real personality.It is not bad, but it is frustrating watching it, no matter how fun it is, because you know what could have been.

Guillermo del Toro's follow-up to the successful BLADE II is another film in the same spirit: playful script, strong action and excellent set design. HELLBOY is another in the recent line of pretty decent comic book hero adaptations, and hey, what do you know, it's a pretty decent film. Perhaps not the masterpiece I had hoped it to be, but definitely as good as BLADE II and popular enough at the box office to warrant a sequel. After years of solid roles in support, Ron Perlman finally gets the lead role he so richly deserves, and he is brilliant as Hellboy, the wisecracking, bright red, half-human half-demon superhero who has a huge stone hand and files his horns away every morning. Perlman's make-up is excellent giving him that fine balance between dodgy realism and comic-book colourfulness and really, his character can't be faulted at all.The plot is rather thin, linking together a series of impressive set-pieces. The opening sequence in Scotland, with a group of evil Nazis, is very well portrayed, as are the various battles with the PREDATOR-like tentacled dog monsters which are able to multiply themselves when killed – kind of like the hydra. There is some great action involving trains and a scene with a huge demolishing pendulum kind of like the one in THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. Throw in some nods to RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and some surprisingly graphic moments of gore and violence (at least for a PG-13 certificate) and you have a film that action film fans will find impossible to dismiss. Just check out some of the genuinely nasty villains too: from the aforementioned dog beasts to the martial arts-fighting zombie, who has had his eyelids surgically removed and who is powered by some kind of weird clockwork contraption, shades of CRONOS there too.Supporting cast is great, from the relatively unknown Rupert Evans who helps introduce us to the bizarre Hellboy, to Selma Blair – an actress I have never particularly liked before – as an incendiary fire starter. John Hurt is almost unrecognisable as the kindly old professor and Doug Jones is great as amphibian-man Abe Sapien. Del Toro throws in some fine artistic moments, such as the scenes in snowy Moscow where Rasputin is raised from the dead, and although the film has a kiddie-friendly rating, it feels really adult in terms of the very violent death scenes and blood spattering everywhere. Okay, so the ending unfortunately does get very predictable, and even the appearance of a Lovecraftian Cthulhu-style monster doesn't bode very well, as the CGI effects aren't THAT good. But it's not bad, and generally passes the time very well. Keep your eyes peeled for more Lovecraftian references in the movie, which are always fun for a book lover like me to spot.