Hellboy
2.5/4
Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Rupert Evans, John Hurt, Doug Jones, Karel Roden, Jeffrey Tambor, Biddy Hodson, Ladislav Beran
Rated PG-13 for Sci-Fi Action Violence and Frightening Images
It is perhaps the ultimate hypocrisy of a film critic (and by extension, an audience member) to criticize a filmmaker for taking chances. We bemoan cookie cutter plots, a lack of new ideas, and films that are content with being the exact same movie we have seen a million times before. When a filmmaker tries to do something new, we either put them on pedestals as "artists with vision" when they work or eviscerate them for their mistakes when they don't. Harsh, but to some extent it's certainly true. Guillermo del Toro certainly took some chances with his film version of "Hellboy," but unfortunately most of them do not pay off.
Hellboy is the result of a foiled occult ritual conducted by the Nazis at the end of World War II. Although Rasputin (Roden) failed in his attempt to destroy the world, the ritual brought a little demon into our world. Dubbed "Hellboy," he is raised by the man who found him: Professor John Bruttenholm, affectionately known as "Broom" (Hurt).
Cut to the present day. Bruttenholm is dying of cancer. Hellboy (Perlman) has grown up to be an urban legend with the body of a pro-athlete and an arm made of rock. But he has a temper and is prone to escaping his compound to visit his on/off girlfriend, Liz Sherman (Blair). To take over for him after he dies, Broom hires an idealistic young FBI agent named John Myers (Evans) to be Hellboy's caretaker. But they all have to prevent Rasputin and his cronies from destroying the world first.
When they met to discuss the movie, Mike Mignola (who created "Hellboy") and del Toro both revealed to each other their preferred actor to play the title character. At the same time, they said one name: Ron Perlman. Their instincts were correct, as Perlman owns the role to the point where it's impossible to imagine anyone else playing it (not even Vin Diesel, the studio's first choice). If nothing else, the movie got the lead character right. Perlman has no trouble mixing sarcasm and vulnerability, and when it comes time to fight, no one is left standing but him.
The problem is that there isn't much of a plot. Rasputin and his ever-loyal lover Ilsa (Hodsen) have no real motives for wanting to destroy the world. Instead, a lot of time is spent gathering all the characters and delving into Hellboy's personal vulnerabilities. It's true that some of this is necessary to ground the film, but a little of it goes a long way, and far too much time is spent on the soap opera aspect of the film's plot.
Guillermo del Toro is a talented and wildly imaginative filmmaker who has always marched to the beat of his own drum. He made an adult fairytale ("Pan's Labyrinth"), a dramatic ghost story ("The Devil's Backbone"), and an adult version of "Beauty and the Beast" ("The Shape of Water"). Here, his ambition eclipses his not yet matured talents. Tonally, the film is occasionally off the mark (there were times when I wasn't sure if he was going for homage or parody). And the film is too long.
So it doesn't work. But at least del Toro tried something different.
Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Rupert Evans, John Hurt, Doug Jones, Karel Roden, Jeffrey Tambor, Biddy Hodson, Ladislav Beran
Rated PG-13 for Sci-Fi Action Violence and Frightening Images
It is perhaps the ultimate hypocrisy of a film critic (and by extension, an audience member) to criticize a filmmaker for taking chances. We bemoan cookie cutter plots, a lack of new ideas, and films that are content with being the exact same movie we have seen a million times before. When a filmmaker tries to do something new, we either put them on pedestals as "artists with vision" when they work or eviscerate them for their mistakes when they don't. Harsh, but to some extent it's certainly true. Guillermo del Toro certainly took some chances with his film version of "Hellboy," but unfortunately most of them do not pay off.
Hellboy is the result of a foiled occult ritual conducted by the Nazis at the end of World War II. Although Rasputin (Roden) failed in his attempt to destroy the world, the ritual brought a little demon into our world. Dubbed "Hellboy," he is raised by the man who found him: Professor John Bruttenholm, affectionately known as "Broom" (Hurt).
Cut to the present day. Bruttenholm is dying of cancer. Hellboy (Perlman) has grown up to be an urban legend with the body of a pro-athlete and an arm made of rock. But he has a temper and is prone to escaping his compound to visit his on/off girlfriend, Liz Sherman (Blair). To take over for him after he dies, Broom hires an idealistic young FBI agent named John Myers (Evans) to be Hellboy's caretaker. But they all have to prevent Rasputin and his cronies from destroying the world first.
When they met to discuss the movie, Mike Mignola (who created "Hellboy") and del Toro both revealed to each other their preferred actor to play the title character. At the same time, they said one name: Ron Perlman. Their instincts were correct, as Perlman owns the role to the point where it's impossible to imagine anyone else playing it (not even Vin Diesel, the studio's first choice). If nothing else, the movie got the lead character right. Perlman has no trouble mixing sarcasm and vulnerability, and when it comes time to fight, no one is left standing but him.
The problem is that there isn't much of a plot. Rasputin and his ever-loyal lover Ilsa (Hodsen) have no real motives for wanting to destroy the world. Instead, a lot of time is spent gathering all the characters and delving into Hellboy's personal vulnerabilities. It's true that some of this is necessary to ground the film, but a little of it goes a long way, and far too much time is spent on the soap opera aspect of the film's plot.
Guillermo del Toro is a talented and wildly imaginative filmmaker who has always marched to the beat of his own drum. He made an adult fairytale ("Pan's Labyrinth"), a dramatic ghost story ("The Devil's Backbone"), and an adult version of "Beauty and the Beast" ("The Shape of Water"). Here, his ambition eclipses his not yet matured talents. Tonally, the film is occasionally off the mark (there were times when I wasn't sure if he was going for homage or parody). And the film is too long.
So it doesn't work. But at least del Toro tried something different.
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