This film is Del Torro’s second attempt at a comic book licence, the first being his attempt at Blade 2 with mixed results. Hellboy is yet another comic book licence, and as such, Del Torro was perhaps a good choice to direct. What he managed to do with Blade 2 (much to the dislike of fans of the first film) was to make Blade grow as a character, and add a bit more depth in the plot. The addition of the original use of CGI during the fight scenes was innovative if over zealous in their execution, but enjoyable nonetheless.
Del Torro was offered Blade 3, but chose to go with Hellboy due to creative differences and also the opportunity for his own film, followed by a sequel and possibly leading to a trilogy dependent upon the success. Del Torro’s success, or lack thereof, in Hollywood is measured by some rather poor results from a Spanish director capable of wonderfully rich and original films back home.
I raise my hand at the question, “Have you read the comics?”, and therefore cannot surmise whether or not it is faithful to the Darkhorse comic book series of the same name. Thus, I can only review the film on its own merits and shrieks of “But if you read the comic you’ll understand” will fail to move me to re-evaluate my opinion.
In Scotland, during the time of the Second World War, the Nazi’s have arrived at a castle to open a portal to another world, which could be construed as hell. The propagator of this ambitious feat is Rasputin. Inexplicably resurrected by the Nazis from perhaps one of the most complete and thorough deaths history has known, he has learnt the dark arts (as was believed during his life time) to bring forth the evils of hell to Earth, in order for conquest.
Selma Blair, overrated, and a waste of space. Pretty looking, if you’re into the dull, plain and normal
His assistants are Hitler’s greatest assassin: a man dressed in some rather kinky gear, bringing memories of Voldo of the Soul Calibur games to the fore (for those who aren’t aware of Voldo, just imagine kinky bondage with belt straps all over the body and some rather odd attached devices); and a blonde lover, also a Nazi. Rasputin, conveniently, is not alone and the good guys are also present, hiding and waiting for the right moment to disrupt the ritual.
Many people die, Rasputin is killed and thrown into the portal, his gimp assistant apparently dead, but mysteriously disappears, and his girlfriend makes an escape for it. The good guys sort of win, however the professor leading the anti-Nazi brigade senses something came through the portal and a search is carried out. Lo and behold, a little imp like creature is discovered, with one fist bigger than the other. Watching porn for this guy would be more difficult with his right hand no doubt.
Rather than kill the imp, the professor collects it, they all give the creature the name of Hellboy and also have a Kodak moment when a picture is taken of everyone. Queue the rather dull title sequence with X-Files-esque monotony, “Is Hellboy real?”, “A Hoax!” and so on.
The film proper, begins with an older Professor, who is told he’s dying after a visit to his doctor’s. Now working for the Paranormal division of the FBI (sadly, neither Mulder nor Scully make a special guest appearance, as they wait for an unlikely second film), the professor has raised Hellboy as his son, and together with a second creature named Abe Sapien (who was discovered in 1865, over a hundred years before Hellboy himself arrived) they take the roles of Mulder and Scully as the partners to eradicate creatures that have inexplicably arrived on Earth.
Plausibility, people, can be left at home for this film as there are many things not explained, as you scratch your head waiting for an answer. The answer won’t arrive, so just accept the film as it is, and pray the sequel is tighter. Prior to the Professor’s older appearence, the Nazi assassin and the blond Nazi make their way to Moscow to resurrect Rasputin, giving his instructions before his death. Remember, Rasputin has been to the other side, so he has a bit more punch this time.
Rasputin is still intent on causing the apocalypse and creates an elaborate plan to persuade Hellboy to go Moscow, where the apocalypse would begin, with only Hellboy having the key to open the gates of hell, and he himself would lead the army in. Throw in a replacement for the professor, who will look after Hellboy after he passes away, a love interest who (again inexplicably) has the gift of creating fire, who the replacement (Myers) falls for much to Hellboy’s annoyance. Add one bad guy that continually replicates itself, and lays eggs through Rasputin’s magic, include one big bad boss and lots of cliches, add a pinch of CGI and you have Hellboy aka Del Torro’s second attempt at Blade 2.
It’s hard to like this film, particularly as so much of it parallels so familiarly with Blade 2. From the CGI fighting, and the assassins outfit, to the almost similar bad guy (which in Blade 2 was a mutated vampire that was intent on killing everything, and in some respects replicated itself). So little of Hellboy is original, and if it’s true to the comic books, then that it’s amusing to think that two Del Torro film’s, that take comic book licences, could turn out so similar. Is it Del Torro’s screenplay, or perhaps lackluster comics? I can’t provide a definitive answer, however, I can only assume Del Torro has failed to learn anything from doing Blade 2. Perhaps Blade 2’s new direction was his first attempt, and Hellboy is the refined version. In that respect, had Blade 2 not happened as it did, then Hellboy would be quite refreshing.
I guess it could be argued that I am being rather harsh on his work. This is after all the first of three films, and some grounding and foundation needs to be created, even if it is unoriginal. The cliches are perhaps no surprise, as originality is often lacking in comic book films, even with Spider-man (at least in my opinion), and they all pretty much follow the same anti-hero formula.
The surprise for me was the casting of Ron Perlman and Selma Blair. Selma Blair, overrated, and a waste of space. Pretty looking, if you’re into the dull, plain and normal. Less the girl next door, more the girl a few blocks down that you notice when you’re REALLY bored. Ron Perlman, strangely seemed to be in character and played his part well. I admit, I am a fan of his brooding, cold acting as he has starred in a lot of Indie and foreign films (his intelligence and grasp of language is to be admired).
Del Torro was offered Blade 3, but chose to go with Hellboy due to creative differences and also the opportunity for his own film
It’s good to see that his trademark cigar smoking even makes it into the film (whether this is a comic book trait, I have no idea). John Hurt was good, but didn’t have much of a character to become. In fact, aside from Hellboy/Perlman, there was little to no character development. The film itself become a selection of scenes spliced together, with the viewer expected to feel empathy at a breakneck space of events spanning two hours.
Did I like anything about the film? Aside from Perlman’s acting, and some of the more innovative action scenes, there was not a lot I took away from this movie as something that I liked. That’s not to say it didn’t entertain me, it did for a while, but sporadically, and at two hours I don’t want to be entertained sporadically.
It’s possibly Del Torro’s fault, as comic books are hardly the resource for great characters. They’re often very simple, with motivation and development occurring over hundreds of issues, in addition to the development actually being rather shallow (a relationship, a tragedy, something inexplicable again!), therefore a film like this, or any comic book adaption has not really touched on Del Torro’s ability to create stories. What Del Torro does best is develop good stories, solid characters and enjoyable entertainment that provides drama. None of these traits are present in Hellboy, much to his detriment. So, in contrast to my initial comment, perhaps Del Torro is not the best choice for comic book adaptations, or maybe he will rectify this with the sequel.
I wanted to like Hellboy, for the fact that Del Torro directed, wrote and did most of the film; that Perlman and Hurt star in it; and that Del Torro does create a moderately entertaining yarn. Unfortunately, it disappoints more than it entertains.
Verdict: A Director and comic mismatch resulting in a very average fantasy film.