UrbanWire

Cast: Ron Perlman, Rupert Evans, Selma Blair
Director: Guillermo del Toro

Hellboy is unquestionably one of the most entertaining no-brainer comic-book action movies and quite surprisingly Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, the man behind darker films such as Blade 2 and The Devil's Backbone, makes this picture a light hearted joyride for action lovers and Hellboy fans, thanks to the witticism of Hellboy (Ron Perlman) himself.

Ron Perlman, a relatively unknown actor whose resume includes forgettable roles in Alien: Resurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis, clearly enjoys his turn as the main action hero, engaging in patronising conversations with his partners and chewing his cigar with gusto and machismo.

Based on Mike Mignola's Dark Horse Comic series, Hellboy is adopted as a child by Professor Bruttenholm (John Hurt) who raises the crimson-skinned, 8-foot-tall and horns-shaving bulk of wit as his own. Blessed with strength, attitude, a monstrous right hand and a cute tail, Hellboy is trained to assist the top-secret Bureau For Paranormal Research and Defense in kicking criminal paranormal butt.

Also part of the Bureau's special mutant talent - sounds suspiciously like Professor X's gang - is Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) a half-fish-half-boy psychic and Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), a telekinetic fire starter who is reluctant to embrace her gift. FBI agent John Meyers (Rupert Evans) is the new assistant to Hellboy.

The plot may be over-the-top but the action is fun, loud and resembles one of a comic book. Hellboy is the key to open the portal for evil to reign and rule the world. The antagonist and Nazi freak of nature Rasputin (Karel Roden) lures Hellboy to his mausoleum and challenges him to make the typical good and evil choices - submit the world to chaos and pain in exchange for his love interest Liz's life, or to keep his faith and earth intact by giving up her soul. The same conundrum Neo faced with Trinity in last year's The Matrix Reloaded.

Of course, before our hero can reach his eventual decision, his journey is laced with hurdles orchestrated by the baddies. Immortal Rasputin spooks with his phantom appearances and his puppet, the blade-wielding German Kroenen has a penchant to display his menacing swordsmanship. Together they unleash salivating monsters on humanity, creating more demons for Hellboy to battle.

The biggest bane of the entire flick is the lacklustre special effects, offering the same fare we've seen in other CGI-enhanced productions. Other minor disappointments include the choppy storyline, attributed to the challenge of compressing an entire serialised comic into a 2-hour movie. Spider-Man failed the same challenge. The lack of character development is especially an issue, given that greater part of the characters are of supernatural nature, we wish we knew more of Sapien, Sherman and others.

On a brighter note, the dialogue is surprisingly cool for a comic adventure. The verbal exchanges are less painfully cheesy than X2: X-Men United and not as cringingly emotional as Spider-Man. The action sequences are of adequate standard but what really stood out were the idiosyncratic quips like yelling "Hey Stinky!" from Hellboy, while wrestling with slimy nasties.And while it's easy to see Hellboy's character as an unrealistic overgrown red cow, the intensity in Perlman's portrayal succeeds in making the character a real person with feelings, emotions and tantrums, not just prosthetics. Although the movie is ridded with a B-grade cast and plot, the fluffy joy in making it is pleasing and resonates with the audience.