Hellboy (PG-13, 2004)

Based on Mike Mignola's comic book series, HELLBOY centers on the titular anti-hero, who has the body of a Hell-spawned demon and the heart of a human. The film depicts how Hellboy made it to Earth as a child, then forwards to the present, in which the adult Hellboy is the supersized ward of Dr. Broom and the Bureau for Paranomal Research and Defense (BPRD). Cigar-munching, cat-loving Hellboy (Ron Perlman) has a huge stone hand and forearm that help him to pummel baddies. He is their most famous inmate, despite the fact that the U.S. government does its best to deny that Hellboy exists. When evil Russian villain Rasputin, his goons, and some rather nasty Hounds of Hell try to bring the Gods of Chaos to Earth, it's time to call in Hellboy & Co. Hellboy is endearingly human, with a penchant for wiseguy understatement and his love for his adopted family of misfits at the Bureau, especially doe-eyed and dangerous Liz Sherman (Selma Blair). They seem literally made for each other as the woman who has trouble controlling her pyrotechnics wouldn't want a boyfriend who wasn't fireproof.

Director Guillermo Del Toro's Blade 2 blazed with whirling swords, back-flipping vampires and frenetic action, at times rendering the fights an incomprehensible blur. Del Toro does not make that error again, introducing a comparatively sleepy pace for Hellboy that seems to stretch its 132 minute length into a much longer movie, padded in parts by unnecessary and cliched scenes and overkill in the squiggly monsters in dripping cavernous cellars category.

To his credit, he captures some of the visual color, tone, and, yes, beauty of the comic book, but he sometimes makes you feel like you are reading it over someone else's shoulder and that person takes too long to finish a page.

Studio: Columbia Tristar
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Cast: David Hyde Pierce, Ron Perlman, Selma Blair
Genre: Science Fiction
Run time: 121 minutes
Theatrical release: April 2, 2004
DVD release: July 27, 2004
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: sci-fi action violence and frightening images