The Original Classic Hellboy

• Directed and Written by Guillermo del Toro
• March 30, 2004 (Mann Village Theater) / April 2, 2004 (US)
• Based on Hellboy created by Mike Mignola

A demon that works with a secretive government bureau to stop paranormal threats crosses paths with a resurrected sorcerer who seeks to make the creature fulfill his destiny of triggering the apocalypse.

I was heavy into comics at the time Hellboy came out. The art of Mike Mignola, who created the character, always caught my eye but I never picked up an issue. Economics I guess. Anyway when I saw the advertising I expected (and on some level knew) that I would get something very different. And did it deliver!

Hellboy tosses in horror along with a detailed (at least it feels like it) mythology and some superhero elements for a comic book movie that still stands out as a certified classic. There is humor and a complex hero who is not perfect but with witty one-liners. Part of the narrative is built around the supernatural focus of the Nazi regime-both real and imagined. In popular culture it has certainly been played up such as with Indiana Jones. All this in a fate-of-the-world story.

Despite being based on a comic, there’s more to the movie. There’s a theme that your destiny is not defined by others but rather what you define it as. Our title character was created to be a world ending entity but was raised by a good man to chart his own path. Themes of nature versus nurture? Yes.

The star is always important. Ron Perlman was perhaps (and maybe still is) the only choice for the character. He is one of the best character actors to ever get to Hollywood. Despite being a demon, Perlman makes Hellboy very human. He chafes under his human father Trevor “Broom” Bruttenholm (John Hurt) yet loves the man dearly. Egotistical and vain yet not without a sense of right and wrong. A loyal friend and a man of deep love for pyrokinetic Liz Sherman (Selma Blair).

The Hellboy/Liz relationship provides the heart of the film. Blair and Perlman have great chemistry that communicates a long and complicated romance. Despite one being a demon and the other having the ability to control fire it’s one of the more realistic pairings I’ve seen in a comic movie ever! Past damage and personal flaws make things difficult between the two yet not needlessly so.

There’s a mixture of action and comedy with neither undermining the other. This is a weird world but it is played very straight. Humor is of the dark variety. Macabre yet with a tinge of funny. Perhaps even ironic. Talking corpses. Monsters that are strangely human. Hellboy is driven by the very relatable characters. That is a reason it has developed such a strong following. That and the perfectly cast parts. The actors brought each and every one of the roles to life.

Having said that, the weakest character is Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor). Manning is often pretty much stock for what I can think of Jeffrey Tambor playing since The Ropers. When Del Toro and pals let him be a character and not a caricature Manning really shines. He’s a bureaucrat and butts heads with Hellboy but all too often it devolves into needlessly difficult because he just doesn’t like Hellboy for weak reasons.

Another issue is a fight scene involving the uber cool assassin character Karl Ruprecht Kroenen (Ladislav Beran), Hellboy, and tangentially Manning. Kroenen is trying to kill Hellboy but Grigori Rasputin (Karel Roden) needs him to embrace his destiny and become Anung un Rama to end the world. It is a cool moment that also allows for Manning and Hellboy to bury the hatchet but makes no sense given the goals of Kroenen’s employer.

The CGI is minimal in comparison to today. A few scenes that could never be accomplished in live action are done with the assistance of computers and you cannot miss the difference. The camera lingers a bit too long for example during the climax on our hero getting tossed in the air directly over the giant creature.

There are a lot of very high-quality foam rubber suits moving around in this. There is just a great deal of “real” in this. From the suits to the sets to even shooting in a real cemetery, this does so much to add believability to what we get. Though not directly stated, the elements of Catholicism used are authentic rather than assumed. Crosses are a source of protection and the rosary is not treated as a necklace.

Overall, Hellboy is just an amazing comic book movie. It has a distinct feel unlike anything else that came before it. Equal parts fun and dark with a great cast and a great script. This is a must watch classic film.