For those who haven’t noticed it yet, there is a trend in Hollywood right now, one that involves taking literary works and adapting them into movies - most of the time involving budgets that would pay off the debts of a Third World country.
And yes, even comic books - or, as they are more properly called, graphic novels - are considered literature now, ever since The Sandman gained recognition and critical acclaim.
But back to the main topic. Sometimes, these adaptations can be incredibly good - one only needs to look at Peter Jackson’s interpretation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings to see just how successful - and lucrative - these adaptations can be.
However, these interpretations can also be very, very bad. Take, for example, the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which - in my opinion - was a good idea as a comic book, and should have stayed a comic book. It surprises me to no end why Sean Connery even agreed to take the role of Allan Quartermain for this one.
Now, what about Hellboy? Well, there is the good and the bad, if one were to look at it. First on the good side, there is the extremely interesting - and rather endearing - character of Hellboy himself. Played by Ron Perlman, an actor whom I remember most clearly for his villain roles in older movies, Hellboy comes off as a guy who’s got a stand-alone complex, but deep down inside is soft and actually very nice. While he looks and acts all tough and brusque, especially when he’s taking down monsters and such, underneath that hard exterior is a softer side, the one that likes taking care of cats and feels completely devoted to his father-figure Professor Broom (John Hurt) and his ’’girlfriend’’ Liz Sherman (Selma Blair).
Another interesting character is that of Professor Broom himself. According to the story told at the beginning of the movie, he was the one who raised Hellboy, training him to become a fighter for the light as opposed to becoming an agent of darkness. His fatherly tendencies also extend to the other characters like Liz and Abraham ’’Abe’’ Sapien (Doug Jones), though it is obvious that he considers Hellboy his ’’child.’’
Abe the Fish Man is my favorite character in the whole movie. Found living in the basement of an old hospital, he was adopted by Professor Broom, and since then has been living a pretty good life, swimming around in a tank of clean water while feasting on rotten eggs and reading four books at a time. He and Hellboy often team up together on missions, with Hellboy as the ’’brawn’’ and Abe as the ’’brains’’ of the outfit. It was rather disappointing that he was around only for the first half of the movie, but then again I am not in control of the situation.
Another good thing about this movie is the dialogue. There are times when it can be quite funny, though not so funny so as to cause one to double over with a cramped stomach. The humor is enough to earn a few chortles and chuckles and maybe a full-blown laugh here and there, but that’s about it.
With regards to the fight sequences, the only really impressive ones were Kroenen’s fight scenes. While Hellboy does some pretty impressive leaps and bounds, if I wanted to see a red person leapfrog over buildings, I would watch Spiderman instead.
And now, for the bad. Selma Blair as Liz Sherman simply did not do anything for me. She seems to have only one expression the entire length of the movie. Her character, as far as I could tell, seemed to present so many interesting chances for some actual acting to get done - even in a movie like this where acting really isn’t too much of a concern. While it is fun to see Selma Blair go up in pretty blue flames, watching her do so does no miracles for me.
And now to what I always believe is the heart-and-soul of movie adaptations: the scipt. While Guillermo del Toro did seem to do a good job with the dialogue, the story itself was a little lacking, especially in character development. The characters Abe and Liz had more than a few chances for some proper character development, but they were not given the chance for that.
Another nitpick that I have is the story behind Rasputin, the main antagonist of the whole movie. While most people are aware of at least some of the historical facts about Rasputin, there is not much explanation in the movie as to the how’s and why’s of his character. I would have appreciated a little more background story on him and how he came to be who he was.
Hellboy is not really going to inspire a lot of people, or move them, or make them think. It is simply out there to entertain, and it is thankfully aware of that fact. The directing was smoothly done, and the cinematography, while not jaw-dropping, accomplishes the job.
It’s impossible to look for anything really enlightening in this movie, and those who are looking for enlightenment should probably avoid this movie at all costs. But for those who are simply looking for some fun, then I suppose Hellboy wouldn’t be such a bad choice.