Highly entertaining, fast paced and humorous. What do you want more? A very good comic adaption!
And by the way the best movie by Guillermo del Toro! I keep watching his movie after having suffered the mediocre "Pan's Labyrith" and "Pacific Rim" in the hope that he can reach the class of Hellboy!
An action movie with a touch of Lovecraftian Horror. Ron Perlman is unbelievably good in the lead role. His performance is physical, funny, soft and even sensitive when it needs to be. The Abe Sapien character played by Doug Jones is cool and I'm glad to see the character get a larger role in the "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" sequel.
The creatures are plentiful and the practical effects are a standout. Having Nazis and Rasputin as bad guys certainly provides a significant challenge to the team of super-powered good guys, as well.
As with all Del Toro creations, this is a great looking movie. It's one of my favorites of the "superhero" genre.
You can really tell when a filmmaker pays attention to the great details that make a story so good. The small things in this movie really add up to flesh out the Hellboy universe. The film has style, substance, wit, backstory, great soundtrack, and beautiful scene/cinematography.
With that said, the subject matter is not everyone's cup of tea, but I really enjoyed it.
"I hate those comic books. They never get the eyes right."
Hellboy drips in style. The art direction, mood, colors.. all are so good that the action is just a bonus. Everyone brought their A-game and Del Toro got all of it and made a fantastic comic book movie.
Was OK, but too classical plot with the nazi-hell connection, monsters seen 2000 times and so on. Could have been great but still a pleasant watch.
Guillermo del Toro picks up Dark Horse comic book Mike Mignola and adapts it with his own vision but still respects the source material like he's a fan. He is a fan and it shows. There can be much said about where this film comes from, but for me it's save to say that it's a love letter to the Hellboy intellectual property. This film both introduced me to the Hellboy Franchise/Comics and Guillermo del Toro. For the comics, I do get biassed, because it's my favorite comic series together with the B.P.R.D. Comics.
Guillermo del Toro's artistic vision is something to be noticed here. The colors that's presented in his films always take part of the story in a way. Here, the most, with characters nicknaming eachother with "Blue" or "Red". Visually intresting locations and set designs. Unique way to mix hero-ism with Lovecraftian horror. Taking a jabs at Nazi'sm and Rasputing. It has everything you seek in a Gothic setting, with creatures from beyond and religion. All these points come from both the comics but also Guillermo's personal past. Maybe thats why he is a fan of the Hellboy series.
Last to mention the cast. Ron Perlman and Doug Jones steal the show. I always get very impressed by how their personality is shown with motion rather than emotion, yet, can show emotion by smaller things like Doug Jones crawling around as a fishman and tilting his head when he's listening to other cast members. Nothing besides praises for both Selma Blair and the Legend John Hurt. As for Rupert as John Myers?.. Nothing. It's a very normal John character. You'd expect he'd add much to the plot personally, but he was more of a "dude thats ona ride with the audience" type of character. They left him out of the sequel. LOL.
I can't remember how many times I've rewatched this. Each time I love it more. There wont be a superhero film like this one anymore.
Maybe I'm just getting old, but most modern films just aren't hitting the same, they lack that je ne sais quoi... depth, perhaps? I keep gravitating back to the fantastic old shows that were made for the love of the craft, for that nostalgic goodness, Hellboy is one of them. I love it every time.
8/10 - for Ron Pearlman in the greatest role of his career, for the King of character acting, Mr. Doug Jones, and for a fantastic live action film all around, timeless from 2004.
I love the comics, and was thrilled when Hellboy came out in 2004. Granted, del Toro took a few liberties with the source material, but nothing worth nagging about. The result was an awesome (Yes... A grown man can use the word awesome and still be taken serious) experience, and ended up as one of my favourite comic adaptations.
Few the movies got the total bad guy as the Hero, I also like the Lovecraftian imaginery mixed with demonology. Loved the moment when Red got his hand burned with the cross. This is like a modern fairytale with blashemous content. I like it.
Rated a Connor 10, normal 9
Some people LOVE Hellboy, but I am not one of them. It is decent and has quality action scenes, but not something I would outwardly recommend. It does have a lot of things that make sense why some would love it, so I would suggest it is worth watching to get gauge for yourself.
Rating: 3/5 - 7.5/10 - Worth Watching
at the start i thought not gonna make it until the end. but it whas not that bad at all, some funny actiion with a flow horror. up to part 2
Guillermo del Toro is a big kid and I love him so much for that, this is such a great comic book film and it is very unique in its style in every way. The story is so so, but the cast and direction make this film so special with Ron Perlman (Hellboy) being the perfect depiction of this character and it's so difficult to pick out other performances because honestly this film is stacked for a comic book film.
I'll also say that most of the visuals in this film still holds up with only a few bits at the start of the film looking a bit PS2 cutscene. If you want to watch a fun comic book film with a great cast and great direction then look no further than Hellboy 2004.
The movie has a lot of scenes that didn't make sense and a lot of bad writing BUT it was actually fun! you can forgive all the flaws just for red. He was so fun there was some good writing too and good scenes. Overall I think I'd watch it again someday
Hellboy is an exciting and action-packed film based on a Dark Horse comic series. The story follows Hellboy, a demon from another dimension, and his team as they combat supernatural threats to mankind. Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, and John Hurt lead the cast and deliver solid performances. And, director Guillermo Del Toro does an excellent job at crafting a captivating visual aesthetic that complements the supernatural themes of the Hellboy universe. However, a couple characters and story point misfire. Still, Hellboy is a unique superhero film that's full of action and adventure.
What can I say? Del Toro did a stand up job. Hard to beat this iteration of Hellboy.
Can’t wait till the sequel arrives!
Delightfully weird. Guillermo del Toro brings this world to life. The effects hold up pretty well. Ron Perlman is the perfect Hellboy.
Hellboy still holds up very well and Del Toro really makes good use of a budget that really isn't that huge in the first place. Ron Perlman makes an excellent choice for Hellboy while adding lots humor and great one liners. There is a little lull in the middle of the film that takes a little while to recover but Hellboy is an easily approachable and fun movie.
Didnt like it the first time but it grew on me
Shout by whitsbrainVIP6BlockedParent2022-01-15T17:22:45Z
An action movie with a touch of Lovecraftian Horror. Ron Perlman is unbelievably good in the lead role. His performance is physical, funny, soft and even sensitive when it needs to be. The Abe Sapien character played by Doug Jones is cool and I'm glad to see the character get a larger role in the "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" sequel.
The creatures are plentiful and the practical effects are a standout. Having Nazis and Rasputin as bad guys certainly provides a significant challenge to the team of super-powered good guys, as well.
As with all Del Toro creations, this is a great looking movie. It's one of my favorites of the "superhero" genre.