Hellboy (2004)

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Writers: Guillermo del Toro, Pter Briggs

Composer: Marco Beltrami

Starring: Ron Perlman, John Hurt, Selma Blair, Ruper Evans, Karel Roden, Jeffrey Tambor, Doug Jones, Brian Steele, Ladislav Beran, Biddy Hodson, Corey Johnson, Kevin Trainor, Brian Caspe, James Babson, David Hyde Pierce

More info: IMDb

Tagline: From the Dark Side to Our Side

Plot: A demon, raised from infancy after being conjured by and rescued from the Nazis, grows up to become a defender against the forces of darkness.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Ron Perlman makes this movie and that's a fact.  Look it up.  Ask anybody.  He really brings the character to life.  He's such a perfect fit that I can't imagine anyone else in the role.  The picture starts out with Nazis in WWII opening a portal to hell which is really neat but it takes a while before we get to spending time with the adult Hellboy which is just a little bit of a drag but it's still entertaining.  Then it's Perlman's show and that's where it really gets fun.  I saw this only once before and that was in the theater.  It's an entertaining picture and it's good but it's not great.  I have no clue what it would take to make it even better.  Except for Perlman it's missing that spark that would elevate it.  I don't know.  I hope one day I someone can explain to me why del Toro has a hard-on for giving every single moving thing on screen big sound.  Abe quickly lowers his hand, an action that makes no sound in the real world but here it's loud.  Rasputin has worms moving under his skin and they're really loud when you see it.  They don't make a peep when you don't.  I realize this isn't the real world we're dealing with but it would be nice if every.fucking.thing didn't make a noise.  That's my beef.  I'm done.  Now it's time to watch the sequel for the last time (I think).