"H" is for Hellboy

Big, red, lots of attitude, and loves kitties!

I have never read the Hellboy comics, but that didn't stop me from watching and loving Hellboy the movie. This is a movie that understands cheese doesn't mean a reduction in quality in either the storyline, the special effects, or the acting, but that it is an essential element in entertainment.

There was a lot of love put into the creation of this film, and it showed, especially in the costumes of the characters, and the CGI. Dead men talk, and have a lot of attitude about it. Giant slimy creatures with tons of tentacles lash about and alternately smoosh people, and toss them around like rag dolls. Monsters erupt from cute little eggs and look kind of like overgrown feral dogs. Liz Sherman generates blue flames with destructive capacity. Abe Sapien is convincingly aquatic. Hellboy is big, red, and kicks serious ass, even while he tends to lots and lots of kitty cats.

The love of felines aside, there's something about Hellboy that endears himself to us. He's really a big kid, complete with a crush on the cute girl, and a heartwarming devotion to his father figure. He wants to fit in so he keeps his horns trimmed back. He enjoys human vices like cigars and too much television. He wants people to see him, and accept him, and craves attention. Ron Perlman is the perfect actor in this role. He has the experience with acting through visage-altering costumes all the way back to Beauty And The Beast, and is still a rough and tumble 'man's man' that can make you forget he's in his late 50's, and not squirm with discomfort when he's romancing Selma Blair's character. Mr. Perlman delivers his lines with the perfect tongue-in-cheek humor, and makes a heavy sigh and an eye roll tell more than other actors could do with a Shakespearean soliloquy.

The character of Liz is also well played by Selma Blair. Her character is tragic, but she doesn't go for the melodrama and make you want to play the world's smallest violin for her. She's warm (no pun intended) and likable, and stands up well against the testosterone of Ron Perlman.

Abe Sapien is the other character that fascinates me. He's blue, bug-eyed, and needs a special apparatus to survive out of water. He loves to read, and enjoys pickled eggs. Part of his charm is the fact he's voiced by David Hyde Pierce who I've loved since his stint in Frasier. When you need a likable know-it-all, he's the man to call upon.

The storyline is very well-written and keeps me watching no matter how often I see this movie. Bringing Rasputin back to life is an unpleasant prospect in itself, but giving him the capacity to end the world is even more unnerving. With glimpses of Hellboy in his day-to-day life, culminating in a final battle against his true self, and a big slimy beastie, there's no point in Hellboy that drags or could be called boring. A scene where Hellboy is spying on Liz on a date with another character, only to have a young boy sit with him on the stakeout and talk smack about the other guy, is simply a riot. No other actor than Ron Perlman could pull that scene off without overdoing it.

This is a great action movie, and one I'm happy spawned a movie sequel. I look forward to a third installment, which I'm sure will be just as awesome as the first two, since the people behind this franchise understand how to balance cheese, action, a solid story, and lots of humor, all on the shoulders of good actors. Mr. Perlman, you're right up there as one of my favorite actors, and I hope to see you in many, many more films to come!