BY LOIS WADSWORTH
EGON ENDRENYI, COLUMBIA PICTURES, 2004.
Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and Liz (Selma Blair).
A Baby Ruth for Heroes
Of the supernatural kind.
HELLBOY: Written and directed by Guillermo del
Toro. Based on the Dark Horse Comic created by Mike
Mignola and a screen story by del Toro and Peter
Briggs. Produced by Lawrence Gordon, Mike
Richardson, Lloyd Levin. Executive producer, Patrick
Palmer. Co-executive producer, Mike Mignola.
Cinematography, Guillermo Navarro. Music, Marco
Beltrami. Editor, Peter Amundson. Production design,
Stephen Scott. Costumes, Wendy Partridge. Hellboy
makeup consultant, Rick Baker. Starring Ron
Perlman, with Selma Blair, Jeffrey Tambor, Karel
Roden, John Hurt. Also Brian Steele, Doug Jones and
Rupert Evans. Revolution Studios. Columbia Pictures,
2004. PG-13. 125 minutes.
T
he top-secret Bureau for Paranormal
Research and Defense has been
called in to help with a delicate, late-
WWII mission. BPRD’s Professor Broom
(John Hurt) is present when Allied soldiers
break into a secret Nazi laboratory in the
desert. Just as they enter the main cavern,
Grigori Rasputin (Karel Roden) completes
his experiment to bring to Earth a supernat-
ural being who can be turned into an agent
for Hitler’s Apocalypse.
A firefight ensues, soldiers on both sides
are killed, and Rasputin escapes. But as
Professor Broom realizes, the mad Russian
monk has left behind an immature but pow-
erful, ruddy creature with both advanced
paranormal gifts and a tail. Broom adopts
him, and Hellboy (Ron Perlman) is raised
to foster good and battle evil.
If you are already a Hellboy fan, none of
this is news to you. But for those who don’t
know this particular comic book super-
hero, the opening sequence tells a great deal
about what the rest of the film will reveal.
First, there are good guys (Broom) and bad
guys (Rasputin), with few crank characters
in the middle. Second, Hellboy has poten-
tially endearing characteristics that Perlman
(City of Lost Children) can amplify without
losing the resolve his tough exterior
requires. Third, director Guillermo del Toro
(The Devil’s Backbone, Blade II) is an
accomplished professional, who knows
how to transform comic book fantasy into
entertaining, lively, cinematic fare without
losing its child-like charm.
I was hooked. Although fantasy comics
are not my preferred reading material, I
have liked a few such genre films, notably
Dick Tracy and Spider Man, because both
pictures contained human frailties and
humor. Likewise, City of Lost Children
(1995), a dark, special-effects fantasy
directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre
Jeunet (Amelie), had in its central story
Perlman as a gentle giant and a young girl
he teamed with to rescue a kidnapped child.
Del Toro’s Hellboy opens in the present
day, where the otherworldly creature has
grown up to be a red giant in love with anoth-
er paranormal, Liz Sherman (Selma Blair). Liz
is a young woman locked into an intimate rela-
tionship with fire. My favorite para is the gen-
tle telepath Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), who
lives in an aquatic tank at Broom’s laboratory.
Abe reads emotions, rather like the
female character on “Star Trek,” but with a
more developed sense of humor. Anxiety
rules when Abe goes up against the latest
Rasputin evil, Sammael (Brian Steele).
Sammael, a lizard lookalike that Rasputin
and his cohort Ilsa (Bridget Hodson) have
loosed on Earth, simply regenerates as two
of himself whenever he’s killed.
It would be easy to get lost in the
labyrinthine structure of the plot, yet del Toro
has the magic touch with the story’s demands.
He maintains an even tone throughout while
balancing the pace of the action with the
needs of the characters to have some ordinary
time. Hellboy gets beaten and bested but
never loses his cool. He’s confident that he
will prevail, even against Sammael. Hellboy
is more worried about an agent assigned to
keeping him out of the daily newspapers,
John Myers (Rupert Evans), who shows an
interest in the enigmatic Liz. Hellboy keeps
Myers in his sights, which is more effective
than the other way around.
It seems ridiculous to talk about per-
formances in a comic-book movie, but the
film’s success depends in part on the actors
playing Hellboy and Liz, because they are
so instrumental in the unfolding story.
Perlman’s mixture of sweetness and sar-
donic humor work well to keep Hellboy
from caricature, despite his appearance.
Blair shows Liz’s desire to be normal,
which makes her a sympathetic heroine.
Unlikely as it seems, I heartily recom-
mend Hellboy for your viewing pleasure. It
is an entertaining and surprisingly resonant,
imaginative work. Now playing at Cinema
World and Cineamark.
ew
APRIL 8, 2004 21