Hellboy
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Year Released: 2004
Rating: 2.0
As far as comic book adaptations are concerned, this one is more tolerable than some others, aided by del Toro's refusal to take any of it all that seriously (it's been a long time - one of the episodes of Urotsukidoji, I think - since I've seen Demon Nazis as villains). It still isn't as good as The Crow (to me, one of the finest comic book movies) - the last half hour tries to wrap up too much too quickly, leaving holes to be plugged up later in extra installments - and there's only so much I can take of this kind of goofy violent-cartoon insanity and Ron Perlman's droll sarcasm without hollering 'give' (the plot is very loosely put together and being a non-comic guy - I like Oh! My Goddess and Ranma ½ but that's about it - I find it a real challenge to follow its logic). The Hellboy-stalking-Selma Blair angle is supposed to give it a romantic element, but it's a small priority when compared to the gargantuan octopus creature descending from the sky.
