Hellboy [2004]

Ron Perlman is a fine actor, and is brilliant as Hellboy. His fantastic deep rich voice and dry sarcastic wit combined with his cool facial expressions just bring the character to life in a way I don't think anyone else could... Ron Perlman IS Hellboy; He was made for the part!

The story/plot is pretty much standard fair; an evil adversary (Rasputin!) is planning to open a portal to hell and bring civilisation as we know it to an end, and yep you guessed it, Hellboy has to stop him. However, this evil enemy is also not of this earth and has the power to summon all manner of mythical creatures etc to help him achieve his goal; consequently the film is awash with all manner of high quality special effects and CGI, which only adds to this films appeal.

Definitely recommended, I loved it, I'm sure you will too.

Hellboy 2 is already underway; I just hope it's as enjoyable as this.


"I'm fireproof... you're not"   October 31, 2004
Web' (UK)
41 out of 49 found this review helpful

When I first read about Hellboy I was a little unsure about the concept, don't get me wrong, I have a particular fascination for movies based on comic characters - especially Marvell comic characters, though being honest I'd never even heard of Hellboy, and based on what I'd read about the character; a red being/creature with one big stone hand/fist and a red pointed tail who, as a child was transported from another dimension (or hell if you like) during a Nazi experiment and is then captured and raised by a secret CIA type organisation and trained to fight evil in return for sanctuary just sounded a little too much for me. However, when I discovered that Ron Perlman (Blade2, Alien Resurrection) had been cast for the part of Hellboy, I decided to give it a watch, and I'm glad I did, it's brilliant!

Ron Perlman is a fine actor, and is brilliant as Hellboy. His fantastic deep rich voice and dry sarcastic wit combined with his cool facial expressions just bring the character to life in a way I don't think anyone else could... Ron Perlman IS Hellboy; He was made for the part!

The story/plot is pretty much standard fair; an evil adversary (Rasputin!) is planning to open a portal to hell and bring civilisation as we know it to an end, and yep you guessed it, Hellboy has to stop him. However, this evil enemy is also not of this earth and has the power to summon all manner of mythical creatures etc to help him achieve his goal; consequently the film is awash with all manner of high quality special effects and CGI, which only adds to this films appeal.

Definitely recommended, I loved it, I'm sure you will too.

Hellboy 2 is already underway; I just hope it's as enjoyable as this.


Hellboy is rock!   May 26, 2006
M. OToole (Midlands, U.K.)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful

Perhaps it's coming from the West Midlands, home of heavy metal, where we're much tougher than the rest of England... whatever the reason, everyone I know that has watched this film absolutely loved it... how can you not? Yes, it's no Pressburger and Powell but as far as this genre goes, this has got to be one of the best comic book, hero adaptions ever: The sets are beautiful and the action sequences hypnotic, the acting is equal to the pacy script and Del Toro has matched his 'Blade 2' with this direction. If you like your hero to be a cigar smoking, gun- toting all American good ol' boy, who just happens to have come from Hell, then this is the film for you.


Fun Comic Book Adventure from Guillermo Del Torro and Mike Mignola   August 9, 2008
John Kwok (New York, NY USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful


"Hellboy II: The Golden Army" is a fun comic book adventure that's one of the better films I have seen this year. Director/writer Guillermo Del Toro and writer - and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola - have crafted a superb superhero action adventure film featuring the often-overlooked Ron Perlman as that devilish hero Hellboy. Sure, he's a flawed son of Satan now committed to fighting for "truth, justice and the American way" (oops, wrong superhero, but you get my point), while also indulging in beer and expensive Cuban cigars. But this time around, he has two problems. First, his relationship with his long-time girlfriend, the fiery Liz (Selma Blair) seems to be reaching a new low - or rather is it? Second, he must deal with the war-like wishes of Elven prince Nuada (Luke Goss), seeking to save his Elvish people from humanity, by resurrecting the legendary, immortal Golden Army. So does Hellboy succeed with his pals Liz and Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) in resisting Prince Nuada's hostile intentions towards humanity? While I won't spoil the fun - but instead, urge you to see the film - I shall note that you'll laugh, cry and eat lots of popcorn watching Hellboy and his friends at work, trying to save America and the rest of humanity. And once you do see the film, I hope that you will realize how ready director Guillermo Del Toro is in tackling J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" as his next cinematic masterpiece after "Pan's Labyrinth".



Not your usual comic action movie   July 23, 2005
K. Morrison (Lincs, England)
8 out of 11 found this review helpful

I had never heard of Hellboy until I saw the posters for this film- I was intrigued, but still didn't see it until it was on DVD. So glad I did... I am a fan of films like X-Men and Judge Dredd, so I thought another comic adaptation would be kind of ok. This is so much different from any other film I've seen; the hero is a massive red demon, cigar- smoking, cynical, rude and offensive. The leading lady is neurotic, angry, reluctant and not a typically beautiful heroine. The plot is utterly peculiar, with many odd surprises and turns. The characters are intruguing: the uber- intelligent fishman Abe; the mad monk Rasputin, slain many times but reborn through blood; the CGI demons which are carbon- copies of Cthulhu, slobbering and shaking their shaggy tentacles. My favourite by far, however, is the best baddie ever; the PVC- clad, wall- climbing, knife- wielding, gasmasked, surgically- altered, undead Nazi ninja. The action moves from the hustle of the city to the snowy wastes of Russia, through an awesomely massive underground network of tunnels, chasms and traps hidden beneath a Russian graveyard. There are Nazis, Elder demons, alien dimensions, talking corpses, pyrokinetics and visions of Armageddon. Fantastic! Stock up on munchies and beer, clear your brain and lose yourself in the utterly strange world of Hellboy.