Retro Review 5: Hellboy

Good morning Internet!

How are all of you doing today?

Good?

Awesome!

Ok, you could have said "I murdered 5 hobos and a baby" and I'd still have answered the same. So if you did just answer with that, you have issues. I'm not judging, but you just may be crazy.

So, moving on. I was in a rather creative mood last night, so I picked a random movie on netflix to watch, narrowed it down to Hellboy and Serenity. Hellboy fit the theme of what I was writing a bit more, so Hellboy it is!

Retro Review: Hellboy

Pros:
I've gone on and on about my love of Guillermo Del Toro. He's one of my favorite directors of all time. Hellboy was his first big movie that really started propelling his career forward. Some may say Blade 2 was his start, but let's face it, Hellboy is perfect for him. It's lovecraftian at it's core, and has some amazing lore and mythology inside of it. I felt like Del Toro was finally given the OK to start doing what he loves to do.

Moving on to the actors, Ron Perlman is absolutely perfect as Hellboy, He completely fits the role and I cannot think of a single other person that could do a better job in this role than he does. Even covered in a layer of Red Rubber he is perfect. His mannerisms and voice, his movements, everything. Ron Perlman is the perfect Hellboy. In this one his makeup is obviously a bit heavier than the sequel, but he still rocks it in this one.

Doug Jones (and David Hyde Pierce) as Abe is great in this one. He's a really unique character and he's a fun mix of mysterious and interesting. I love Abbe as a character, even if he's only in this for about half the time.

Selma Blair is interesting as Liz, but overall I wish she had more of a role like she has in the second.

Where to go from the actors? Let's go to the Villains. I don't know any of the actors on them, and I'm sure the Kroenen actor isn't the same in every scene, but I absolutely love Kroenen. The cold calculating assassin type character is great. I feel like he can kill me at any moment, but it will all be for a reason. The idea that he's just a puppet full of sand is cool. He's a very imposing character. I'd love to do him as a cosplay.

Rasputin is interesting, but I wish he got a bit more screentime.

Even though this came out about 10 years ago most of the effects still stand up today, the  transitions between real character and CGI replacements are very well done, they never really stick out as poorly animated.

Cons:
I'm not a huge fan of the Myers Character, I see the reason to have him in there as a sort of audience person, meaning he's experiencing things the same time as the audience. That's fine, but I really got annoyed with him being the potential love interest for Liz, when we all know she'll end up with hellboy.

I also wish that Abe had a bit more of a role, he would have been interesting in the finale, but I understand that it was a budgeting issue.

Sammael is a bit of a mixed bag. I love the idea of a reptilian Hound that cannot be killed, but in the end it's killed just like anything else, and quite often it looks very obvious that it's a puppet or a puppeteer inside it. I like the overall creature design but so often it just seems gimmicky and not threatening

Final Notes:
The Hellboy is one of my favorite series, The first one is very good, but it pales in comparison to the second one. The first is a very good set up and a brilliant movie on it's own, and I always recommend them to people looking for a good Comic book movie

Final Verdict: 85
Great characters and overall theme but feels just a bit monotonous and flat at times, plus a few effects are dated by today's standard.


So another Retro Review down, keep your eyes peeled for an anime review soon.

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