Hellboy

Neither of us were too set on seeing this movie - we just sort of went. It's a rainy day and we wanted to see a movie. I'm glad we did see this one now.

Hellboy is a weird flick. It's based on a Dark Horse comic character, which neither of us ever read. Hellboy is actually a demon that comes through a portal and is raised by a kind paranormal professor who instantly bonds with him. He grows up to be a huge secret weapon, an invincible fighting machine. We know he's a demon because he has a bad attitude, witty comebacks and he smokes little stubby cigars. Oh and he's red and has horns. Other than that, he's just a regular dude who likes to watch tv and hang out. Ron Perlman (Blade II) does a very good job with what he's doing here. Because he's an Aries in real life I'm sure he felt right at home in this role.

John Hurt (Contact) plays the professor who becomes Hellboy's father figure. We really enjoyed him in Contact and pretty much went just to see him in this one.

There are several good reasons to see this movie - especially if you're not a fan of Hellboy comics. My favorite character is Abraham Sapien - a fish/man intuitive sort of thing (he's cool) played by Doug Jones (who we've never heard of before) but the voice of Abraham is done by David Hyde Pierce (Frazier on tv) - definite flashbacks to Roddy McDowell here!

The other good character is Selma Blair (Legally Blonde) as a distressed young woman who is very sad and alone. This is the best I've ever seen this actress do - I think the part is very right for her.

Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development on tv, Larry Sanders on tv plus lots of movies) has a tongue in cheek serious part. He did a good job.

The writing in this movie is fun - lots of peppy one liners and funny things amidst intense action scenes. The plot was weak (but it's a movie based on a comic book for crying out loud!) but it's a pleasure to watch this movie - visually it just rocks. Written, directed, produced, you name it by Guillermo del Toro (Blade II), this movie has some wonderfully constructed scenes, great visuals (both ugly and beautiful) and just *interesting* stuff to see. I found myself not caring about the characters, or the story, but just waiting to see what they would show me next. The graphics are very well done.

Of course you've seen this movie before - it has a strong undercurrent of X-Men, Men in Black, Ghostbusters, The Matrix but don't dismiss this one quickly. It was fun, other than the word "Hell" it was clean, and anyone with a visual eye or artistic streak will just enjoy the ride. One of our favorite scenes is Hellboy interacting with a young boy.

The popcorn was fresh, but darn it I left my container of White Cheddar sprinkle cheese in the Walking Tall theater yesterday (DOH!) so no cheese for me. Robert ate almost ALL of the raisinets this time, too!!

Rating - 3 - FUN! (we were afraid going in it would be a 2 but were pleasantly surprised) Pueblo Tinseltown was the theater.

Don't leave at the start of the credits - there's a little bit more to the movie after they roll! (oh and these are the LARGEST credits we've seen yet on the big screen! Guillermo del Toro seriously wanted his name up there bigger than life!