Director Guillermo del Toro has a fairly distinctive taste that has brought to life the likes of previous properties such as Blade II. So when he was nabbed to bring Mike Mignola's Hellboy to theaters, I myself was intrigued. Upon watching the film in theaters, I was a bit disappointed. Maybe I was just distracted, because seeing Sony's just released DVD, I see the movie in a whole new light.
Hellboy is not your normal type of superhero. He's not really an anti-hero either, which is what makes this film, and the graphic novels so interesting. Ron Perlman leads the role with such a good balance that I have to retract my original feelings about his casting.
During Nazi occupation off the coast of Scotland (yep bet you didn't know that happened), Rasputin is attempting to open a portal to hell and he mostly succeeds. Fortunately the allies are there to close the portal just in the nick of time, but not before something escapes. Welcome to Earth Hellboy!
Doctor Broom (John Hurt), working with the allies and a leading thinker on the paranormal, takes in the creature and becomes Hellboys father. During the destruction of the portal, Rasputin is sucked into the hole and thought to be gone forever.
Flash forward sixty years and Rasputin is back causing havoc. Hellboy has become a modern day Sasquatch capturing the minds of people who wonder if he is real or not while trying to take out all the hellish creatures Rasputin has unleashed.
Jeffrey Tambor, in one of his cooler roles of late, plays the FBI head honcho who's job is to make light of allegations such as these while running the business end of the Paranormal division. He doesn't like Hellboy much, nor his other freakish friend, the clairovoyant fish man Sapien (Doug Jones, voiced by way of David Hyde Pierce). For some reason the film also throws in Rupert Evans as Hellboy's new FBI liason John Myers.
What really makes the film more than a dumb action title, is Selma Blair as firestarter Liz. Hellboy is in love with her but her confusion and unattraction to him builds through the movie resulting in a surprising ending. It's no Spiderman kind of love but in its own way it's really good. Hellboy seems to be better on repeat viewings, as the film has a subtle charm that can be easily missed.
The Disc:
While the action may be too far and between to capture your attention, the film is beautiful. Del Torro captures a dark beauty that is pristine in this 1.85:1 widescreen anamorphic transfer from Sony. The film also has an adequate soundtrack in the Dolby Digital 5.1 track. While we would have loved DTS for a special edition, the track does a good job with the deeper sounds and surrounds.
Disc One features the film itself, along with a couple of extras. First up is Commentary by director Guillermo del Toro and co-executive producer Mike Mignola, which is heaven. I was SO hoping to hear Mignola's take on the film and this track is put together very well! It's not the only one either, as there's a Second audio commentary track by Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Rupert Evans, and Jeffrey Tambor. Tambor is a hoot, I really love his work and hearing Perlman you know this was the biggest break of his career. Very good stuff.
Next up are some very strange but cool cartoons under a section called Hellboy Recommends. Apparantly a series of Dr Suess inspired shorts from the sixties, this trilogy tells of a boy who can't speak words but instead makes sounds. I guess hellboy's being different from everyone else appealed to this cute shorts.
There's also some trailers for upcoming movies from Sony.
Disc Two features an amazing number of extras. It begins with what sounds insane but when taking into account their subject matter and length, there's nothing really excessive here. "Hellboy: The Seeds of Creation": is a set of 27 documentaries that explore the various aspects of the film and its creation.
It begins with The Right Hand of Doom: Branching Set Visits which is a series of eight short features that gives us a close look at the production of the film. Dealing with a known property from another format makes things interesting to say the least!
Next up is The Seeds of Creation, a two hour, 20 minute behind-the-scenes documentary that outlasts even the main feature in length! This is a very well and thought out piece but is only recommended for the hardcore fan. It's pretty much a lesson in the history of Hellboy's origins.
Next we have Kroenen's Lair which delves into that nasty pit of evil that centers around Hellboy's nemesis. At 20 minutes, it's a mix of sketches, finished storyboards and CGI sequences hosted by Del Toro.
For you techies and artists out there, there's Five Board-a-Matics, a side-by-side comparison of scenes with the animated storyboards and Four computer-generated animated scene breakdowns, which are super cool to view. These are given in technical terms but remain simple enough for the layman to understand.
Finally are some Deleted and Extended Scenes with or with commentary, a Still Gallery which offers up some captures from the set and of course Trailers.
bottom line:
Hellboy comes close to the kind of goodness that is Spiderman but not quite. Still it's an excellent film that has action, love and comedy mixed pretty nicely. Del Torro can have even more fun with the sequel now that the concept has been set.
4 out of 5
By - Brian Gray
