Investigating the Nazi's flirtations with the occult during WWII, Professor
Bruttenholm (John Hurt) finds himself in the middle of a ceremony where the
wicked Rasputin (Karel Roden, "15 Minutes") is conjuring a portal to the
otherworld. After thwarting the attempt, the Professor discovers the one tiny
detail that managed to pass through the gateway: a demon the troops nickname
"Hellboy." Now fully grown, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) works for the Professor at the
Bureau for Paranormal Research, fighting evil of all kinds, alongside a fish-man
named Abe Sapien (body by Doug Jones, voiced by David Hyde Pierce),
psychologically frazzled human torch Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), with whom
Hellboy is deeply in love, and newbie government agent, John Meyers (Rupert
Evans). When Rasputin rises from the dead to complete his mission, Hellboy sets
out to stop him, unwillingly becoming a pawn in the villain's plan for world
domination.
What keeps any comic book movie adaptation from drowning in pen and ink is
character. Character has helped make classics in the genre ("Superman" and
"X-Men"), and the absence of it has shown audiences just how bad movies can get
("Batman and Robin" and "Bulletproof Monk," with which "Hellboy" shares almost
the exact same villains). "Hellboy" (IMDb listing) is based on a lower-tier book by Mike
Mignola, therefore it has more to prove than, say, "Spider-Man." What "Hellboy"
has in its corner are heaps of character and backstory to cover; but the film
must also provide the spectacle filmmakers believe audiences crave. Guess which
side almost always wins?
With "Hellboy," this battle between story and effects is one that is bitterly
fought. Writer/director Guillermo Del Toro has already wet his whistle on genre
films, having guided "Blade 2," "Mimic," and "The Devil's Backbone" to the
finish line; here's a director who adores the slimy stillness of the dark, as
well as creatures that threaten every step. With "Hellboy," Del Toro gets ample
opportunity to play with monsters and battles, armed with heavy creative control
and a budget that can, at least visually, support his ideas for the film. What
surprised me most about Del Toro is that he takes almost every chance he gets to
investigate the characters, to breathe in their various dramas, and allows a
chance to spend time in their company. Hellboy is a character of unusual
complications, for he is a beast of the damned, yet was raised like a suburban
teenager, complete with female crushes, a love for kittens, and candy fixations.
Del Toro gives himself time to demystify Hellboy, providing chances for the
audience to bond with the character, and time to get used to the idea
that we should be cheering on a creature that was ultimately made to ring in the
Earth's demise. Funny how those things go sometimes.
Hellboy is beautifully rendered by creature designer Rick Baker, and deliciously
played by Ron Perlman, who has a lot of body appliances to play through. While
Hellboy's lips don't exactly move, Perlman's own brand of snarky attitude shines
through. I'm frustrated that the producers didn't hire a comedian to write some
of Hellboy's iconic one-liners (sample: "Oh crap!"), but Perlman gets away with
murder because he can bring a personality to life under what looks like about 50
pounds of rubber. His key interplay with Liz is genuinely heartbreaking,
bringing a slight twist of pathos to the comic book character realm that only
the bravest of filmmakers have pursued.
When "Hellboy" brings out the spectacle side of the story, things fall apart
quickly. Reigned in immediately is the intimacy of the drama, and out comes the
elaborate CGI and gelatinous gobs of doom. Since the villains haven't been
founded with much concentration, Del Toro doesn't earn the right to pay off
their apocalyptic plans, leaving the final half hour a stunning bore to sit
through. The effects and the nonsensical story (I'm sure this had more depth in
the source material) are pushed to the forefront, efficiently suffocating
everything that made "Hellboy" great to start with. I would gladly trade the 10
minute fight between Hellboy and a building-sized mass of evil, all-powerful
gray jello for 10 seconds longer with his true love Liz, the Professor, or even
poor Abe Sapien, who all but disappears in the film's second hour.
Filmfodder Grade: B-
