Hellboy

Hellboy está bien. Tiene corazón, encanto, ingenio, un toque fresco, una dimensión fantástica y se nota que el guionista y director Guillermo del Toro la hizo con amor. Aun así, no es su mejor película. No hay suficiente acción y la más importante, la final, es sorprendentemente poco imaginativa y apresuradamente superada. Por no hablar de la falta de dinámica e impulso generales de la película (en esto era mejor Blade II), algo que no debería faltar en una película de cómics como ésta. A menos, por supuesto, que se apoye en una psicología más dramática (X-Men 2), cosa que Hellboy no tiene. De hecho, Del Toro la concibió como una pura película de relajación basada en el humor, los personajes simpáticos, los monstruos repugnantes y viscosos y la atmósfera mágica del «otro mundo». Esquemáticamente, básicamente se limitó a intercalar las escenas de relajación, en las que nuestros protagonistas permanecen en el laboratorio, con escenas en las que van tras los enemigos y les dan una paliza. Y estos dos planos, por desgracia, se iban alternando durante dos horas enteras sin que se abordara nada importante y nos mantuvimos en vilo sobre lo que ocurriría a continuación. ***1/2 (13.08.2004)

A visually captivating, but plot-wise somewhat overwrought breather that, given the premise, could have been better. The action sequences aren't great, the humour sometimes misses the mark and del Toro isn't very good when it comes to psychology. A lot is made up by the visuals, which are quite striking despite the average budget of 60 million, with decent effects (even if sometimes too computer-ey) and good make-up (Hellboy and especially Abe Sapien are simply awesome). The script didn't give Roden much space, but Perlman radiates charisma for a hundred lengths of his devil's tail. On the other hand, there is the very bland character of a young FBI agent who tries to woo Hellboy's girlfriend, but is otherwise completely useless. All in all, a film that entertained me on average and didn't resonate with me after I left the cinema. We’ll see with the sequel. (24.09.2004)

What does make a person human after all? Mentally he is 20, in love, irritated, strong, conflicted - and because of that, irresistible. I still remember that I didn't believe in Hellboy at all after watching the trailer, and then I stayed staring. A very fragile bond with Liz, constant teasing from the agents around, a complicated relationship with his father, or just battles with Sammael - this hellish boy gets me everywhere. After many, many screenings, I simply have to admit that my beloved genre of comic book adaptations has its inconspicuous, red king. (09.04.2006)

Hellboy is a comic book Accenture exactly to my taste. It has a devilishly dark and sometimes perversely disgusting atmosphere, humor as black as a freshly filled grave and a hero so sympathetically unsympathetic that there’s nothing quite like it. The main winner of Guillermo Del Toro's film is Ron Perlman, whose mask creation surpasses everything I have seen so far in the comic book remake genre. Hellboy is a hero with a soul who doesn't have to define himself to the world through tons of explosions and fights... it's a little big poem about the eternal feud between hell power and good human aspects, which turns into something almost poetically tender in that big red body. The scenes where Hellboy strokes a kitten with his stone hand or eats cookies on the roof in the company of a nine-year-old boy, debating love with him, are the highlights of the film. Del Toro was able to properly balance the ratio of action and conversation, thus joining the commendable trend of X-Men 2. It's amazing how a movie about a horned monster managed to impress me... but not only that. The film was able to entertain me with well-crafted action sequences (which, however, are rather only above average and old-world nowadays), and it suggested an atmosphere to me that balances on the edge of black comedy and horror. It too bad that in the end the film loses some of the escalation and directorial cleverness with which it is conducted (with a slight exaggeration). Hellboy's world is very sympathetic and understandable to me, which is why I hope that "Red" does not end his brash journey with this film. It would be a pity if this muddy hellish relic doesn’t get a successor... (30.09.2004)

Hellboy has huge potential, but the creators didn’t do a good job in transferring it to the screen. The greatest mistake is that they completely ignored the mysterious Gothic atmosphere that simply oozes out of the comic books. In terms of story this is an almost disrespectful mishmash and the only thing that saves the day is Ron Perlman in the title role of Hellboy himself. Add to that the rather sluggish pace, over-long running time and a lame finale. So the result is unfortunately a mediocre affair that can be watched once, but never again. (06.07.2004)