Hellboy
all tempered with special effects, makeup outrageous and bizarre, and story lines that not only straddle the preposterous and outrageous, but dance with them, on light feet that would make Fred and Ginger proud.
But all these things are, at best, superficial. In order for a comic book to work on the silver screen it must have an actor or two who understands these elements and delights in them. In the case of "Hellboy" that actor is singular: Ron Perlman: Here is an actor who takes his work seriously, enduring makeup for hours on end to achieve the desired look and effect, but also finds pleasure in the drudge work: He chomps his cigar, he twitches his tail, and battles demons as if he were performing Shakespeare for the unlearned.
"Hellboy" is based on the comics by Mike Mignola and is directed by the Mexican-born horror cinema master Guillermo del Toror ("Cronos", "Blade II"). I mention these facts because, along with Perlman, they serve to explain how this flick can work when other works adapted from comic books fail. "Hellboy" opens on a scene involving Nazis, the garden-variety comic book villain. In a desperate plan and scheme, late in World War II, to save themselves said brownshirts open a portal to the dark side of reality and bring forth the Seven Gods of Chaos. That is, they would do so but they interrupted by U.S. soldiers and one Professor Bruttenholm (John Hurt, in a curious turn), who is President Roosevelt's personal psychic adviser. (Aside, Hillary Clinton, senator from the state of New York, once claimed she talked with the late Eleanor Roosevelt--oh, never mind. Just now we have summoned enough demons and devils.) Now before the Nazis and the U.S. military presence can shut the portal a little red baby with horns and tails slips through. The professor gathers the demon up, and calms him with a Baby Ruth bar, and proceeds to raise him to become the chief warrior for humanity against dark things and the forces of Hell.
Meanwhile the psychic practitioner for the Nazis, Grigori Raspution (Karel Roden), is sucked through the portal and disappears from sight.
Yes: That Rasputin.
Fast forward to present day. The professor, now in his 80s (90s?), is informed he will soon die. An unfortunate fact, but one that is made worse when it is found two of his old enemies are the same age they were when this
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