In the final days of World War II, the Nazis attempt to use
black magic to aid their dying cause. The Allies raid the camp where
the ceremony is taking place, but not before a demon - Christened
'Hellboy' - has already been conjured. Joining the Allied forces,
Hellboy eventually grows to adulthood, serving the cause of good
rather than evil as part of the U.S governments Paranormal defence
department. There he is aided by Abe Sapien - a telepathic fish-man,
and Liz Sherman - a Pyrokinetic.
With the recent releases of Spider-man, X-men and the Daredevil
movies, the adaptation of Mike Mignola's 'Hellboy' has a lot to
live up to, but it succeeds well in bringing these characters to
the big screen.
Ron Perlman as Hellboy is the perfect casting - facially very similar
to the character anyway, it only takes some red makeup and a set
of horns for him to bring the character (similar to a 40's U.S.
G.I. with a sarcastic sense of humour) believably to life as a lovelorn
hero.
With a supporting cast that includes John Hurt, the only loss to
the film for me was the lack of use of Abe Sapian (voiced by an
uncredited David Hyde Pierce of Fraiser Fame), who's character
seems to vanish completely towards the end of the film.
Overall an enjoyable family movie that everyone will enjoy.
Review by Paul
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