REVIEW: HELLBOY
Title: Hellboy (2004)
Starring Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, John Hurt and Rupert Evans
Produced by Revolution Studios, Dark Horse Entertainment and Starlite Films
Written by Mike Mignola (graphic novel), Guillermo del Toro and Peter Briggs
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
I want to start off by saying I am not a Guillermo del Toro fangirl. I haven’t seen Pan’s Labyrinth nor do I care to. However, when it comes to anything related to Hell, I’m there. I wouldn’t say I’m a Satanist, but I just like dark, evil things. Sorry if that disturbs you. I don’t REALLY mean it, I just like my movies as black as my coffee. That being said, Hellboy is by far my favorite comic book character as well as my favorite on-screen adaptation. I am SUPER PUMPED to go see it today.
Hellboy (Ron Perlman), the demon spawn of the prince of the underworld and a witch, was found by Americans at a Nazi occultist ceremony. He eats a batch of pancakes and no longer has evil tendencies and becomes a good guy working for the people who raised him, The Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. When Rasputin comes back from the beyond, Hellboy must team up with Liz (Selma Blair), Ape Sapien (Doug Jones) and Professor Broome (John Hurt) among others in order to stop him before he takes over the planet.
I’ve been doing an insane amount of research on Hellboy for my job, working for Spill.com, and I’ve absolutely fallen in love with his character. He’s sarcastic, charming and even loves cats! Mike Mignola, the creator of Hellboy, said he pictured Ron Perlman playing him off the bat and no one else. I must say, Ron Perlman IS Hellboy. Period. He does such a fantastic job, from the feature films to the animated films and video games, he is just charming the pants off America left and right.
Of course, being in true Guillermo del Toro style, the creatures in this film are simply phenomenal. They’re terrifying. Even hellboy himself has such a shocking look to him that he has a permanent love/hate relationship with those surrounding him, aside from his friends, of course. The movie is sharp and moves great, but I must say the end was a little sappy for my liking. I still loved the shit out of this movie though.
And guess what? I love it so much, I’m going to see Hellboy 2: The Golden Army today…on opening day.
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