Hellboy (2004)
Average Rating: 6.8/10
Reviews Counted: 195
Fresh: 157 | Rotten: 38
With wit, humor and Guillermo del Toro's fantastic visuals, the entertaining Hellboy transcends the derivative nature of the genre.
Average Rating: 6.9/10
Critic Reviews: 42
Fresh: 37 | Rotten: 5
With wit, humor and Guillermo del Toro's fantastic visuals, the entertaining Hellboy transcends the derivative nature of the genre.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 417,538
My Rating
Movie Info
Mike Mignola's acclaimed comic book series about a creature from Hades who joins the battle against evil arrives on the screen in vivid form in this adaptation directed by distinctive horror filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. During World War II, the Third Reich has joined forces with the evil Grigori Rasputin (Karel Roden), who has used his occult powers to summon up a young demon from the depth of Hell to be used as the ultimate Axis weapon. However, the demonic creature is captured by American
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Ron Perlman
Hellboy -
John Hurt
Prof. Trevor "Broom" Br... -
Selma Blair
Liz Sherman -
Rupert Evans
Agent John Myers -
Karel Roden
Grigori Rasputin -
Jeffrey Tambor
Dr. Tom Manning -
Doug Jones
Abe Sapien -
David Hyde Pierce
Abe Sapien -
Brian Steele
Sammael -
Ladislav Beran
Kroenen -
Biddy Hodson
Ilsa -
Corey Johnson
Agent Clay -
Kevin Trainor
Young Broom -
Brian Caspe
Agent Lime -
James Babson
Agent Moss -
Stephen H. Fisher
Agent Quarry -
Garth Cooper
Agent Stone -
Angus MacInnes
Sgt. Whitman -
Jim Howick
Cpl. Matlin -
William Hoyland
Von Krupt -
Bob Sherman
Television host -
Guillermo del Toro
Baby Hellboy/Kroenen/Sa... -
Jeremy Zimmerman
lobby guard -
Santiago Segura
Train Driver -
Tara Hugo
Doctor Jenkins -
Mark Taylor
Truck Driver -
Jan Holicek
museum guard -
Pavel Cajzl
Sherpa Guide -
Monty L. Simons
orderly -
Richard Haas
Second Doctor -
Ellen Savaria
Blonde Television Repor... -
Andrea Stuart
Girl with Kittens -
John William Johnson
Agent Clay -
Bridget Hodson
Ilsa -
Daniel Aarsman
Kid -
Bettina Ask
kid -
Alvaro Navarro
kid -
Emilio Navarro
kid -
Rory Copus
kid on rooftop -
Andrea Miltner
Doctor Marsh -
Jo Eastwood
Down's Patient -
Charles Grisham
Museum Guard -
Mille Wilkie
Young Liz -
Petr Sekanina
German Scientists -
Ales Kosnar
German Scientists -
Justin Svoboda
Young Guy -
Winter Ave Zoli
Girlfriend -
Albert May
Train Driver
ADVERTISEMENT
Hellboy Trailer & Photos
All Critics (195) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (166) | Rotten (39) | DVD (49)
When the movie's story line concentrates on the character of Hellboy and his relationships with those important to him, the film becomes a unique romp, with an exciting yet vulnerable superhero at the center who just happens to be the spawn of Satan.
Played by Ron Perlman, he's the most magnetic action hero I've come across in a long while, though I couldn't make heads or tails of this story.
Unfortunately, after setting up this fresh blue-collar scenario in the movie's first hour, Del Toro wallows in pyrotechnics.
Del Toro, in love with his source but never overawed by it, keeps things moving; Perlman ties it together with some of the driest witticisms this side of Indiana Jones. Like we said: fun.
Top CriticTo his credit, del Toro does not flinch from the ridiculous. But he is equally sensitive to Hellboy's pulp poetry.
This is the kind of movie you watch for its aura, for its appealing characters, for its marvelously sustained seriocomic romantic mood.
The screenplay has flashes of real wit, and Perlman is perfect in the title role.
Somewhat entertaining, but too scary for many.
Inventive but derivative, well performed yet slightly hokey, visually lush yet over-stylised.
Anyone can send an immense, computer-generated vegetable monster rampaging at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, but it takes a special kind of imagination to do it in a way that's thrilling, emotionally complex, and rapturously beautiful all at once.
High concept fantasy through the eyes of creative genius of Guillermo del Toro
Hellboy both kicks butt and falls in love, in an adventure that is thrilling, funny and touching.
A strong anti-superhero movie that turns the genre sideways.
Del Toro and Perlman essentially make you forget that Hellboy's this bizarre creature because Perlman invests him with such humanity. And maybe what makes him most human are his flaws.
Ron Perlman--the Lon Chaney of our time--plays Hellboy with grit, humor, and a depth of feeling which, barely, grounds the movie.
They say the devil gets all the best tunes and, on the strength of this latest comicbook adaptation, he gets all the good one-liners, too.
Artistically resonant even as it deliberately follows a contemporary narrative structure.
Perlman, at age 53, strides in like a hungry young actor itching to prove something, only with 22 years of experience lending him charisma and confidence.
As expertly played by Perlman, even with tons of make-up and prostheteics, our hero is a good 'monster' whose origin haunts him to the bone.
Stylish sci-fi director Guillermo Del Toro brings Mike Mignola's stone-fisted, horny (literally!) cult comic book hero to life in this wry, glossy adventure.
Audience Reviews for Hellboy
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
-
- Von Krupt: Five years of research and construction, Grigori, five years! The Fuhrer does not look kindly on failure!
- Grigori Rasputin: There will be no failure, General. I promised Herr Hitler a miracle. I'll deliver one.
-
- Prof. Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm: In the absence of light, darkness prevails. There are things that go bump in the night, Agent Myers. Make no mistake about that. And we are the ones who bump back.
-
- Hellboy: I can promise you two things: One, I'll always look this good, and two I'll never give up on you.
-
- Hellboy: [referring to the Hellboy comics in John's hands] I hate those comic books. They never get the eyes right.
-
- Hellboy: Red means stop!
-
- Hellboy: I'm gonna be sore in the morning...
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for Hellboy yet.
Latest News on Hellboy
April 8, 2013:
Hellboy 3 Isn't Going to HappenAnd creator Mike Mignola is really tired of having to talk about it.
July 16, 2012:
Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman Tease Hellboy 3No details yet, but they've confirmed they're trying to get it made.
July 22, 2011:
Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman Talk Hellboy 3If you have Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman in the same room with some reporters, inevitably...
What's Hot On RT
Trailer for James Franco adaptation
Star Trek opens softer than expected
Rachel McAdams' time travel romantic drama
Trailer for Tom Hanks thriller
Featured on RT
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Star Trek Softer Than Expected at #1 48
- Weekly Ketchup: Will Smith to Star in Wild Bunch Remake? 36
- Critics Consensus: Star Trek Into Darkness is Certified Fresh 105
- Red Carpet Roundup: Star Trek Into Darkness Edition 0
- Video Interviews with Katie Aselton & Lake Bell of Black Rock 2
- VIP Access: Eli Roth talks Aftershock 1
- Total Recall: Star Trek Movies 95
Top Headlines
-
J.J. Abrams Talks Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Wars, and More
1
-
Vin Diesel Says Fast & Furious 7 Will Begin a New Trilogy
9
-
Mickey Rourke Confirmed for Expendables 3
5
-
Brad Bird Still Mulling Incredibles 2
0
-
Reese Witherspoon, Jena Malone, and Martin Short Join Inherent Vice
1
-
Bruce Willis Makes an Expiration Date
4
-
Drew Pearce Hired for Mission: Impossible 5
0
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek Movies Ranked
HitFix offers their own take on the worst-to-best of the Enterprise crew's cinematic adventures.
Top 10 Star Trek Villains
Rolling Stone unveils the Enterprise's most irksome adversaries.
Celebrity Yearkbook Flashback
We'll bet you never realized how many stars were cheerleaders and high school athletes!
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
A demon, raised from infancy after being conjured by and rescued from the Nazis, grows up to become a defender against the forces of darkness.
REVIEW
Based on the works of Mike Mignola, "Hellboy," written and directed by Guillermo Del Toro, is a better-than-average comic book adaptation that boasts a refreshing sense of humor amid all the customary action sequences and first-rate special effects. The story begins in 1944, near the end of World War II, with the Nazis attempting to open a portal between earth and a hell-like dimension where seven evil deities have been lying in wait for just such an opportunity to come in and take over the world. One creature from the other side makes it through before the Nazis' scheme is thwarted, a young "boy" who is adopted by an American expert in the paranormal and groomed to become a superhero who can do battle with all the supernatural creatures who apparently exist in an abundance undreamed of by the vast majority of the human race.
The makers of the film have wisely chosen to keep Hellboy life-sized and believable in both his physical and psychological dimensions. Despite his red skin, stone right hand and ability to leap from rooftop to rooftop with gravity-defying ease, Hellboy is really just an Average Joe-type, with a bit of an ego, a sardonic sense of humor, a strong sense of loyalty, and a really good heart. Heck, he even has problems in the romance department not much different from what all the rest of us go through at one time or another in our lives. The movie is overlong and the screenplay probably includes one or two monsters more than it needs to in order to get the job done, but Ron Perlman, even under all the heavy makeup, makes Hellboy a three-dimensional, sympathetic character, while John Hurt brings warmth and authority to the role of Professor Bruttenholm, the "father figure" who raises him.