Topping the box office last weekend, director Guillermo del Toro’s “Hellboy” is the paradigmatic early Spring Hollywood release; the type of modestly budgeted adventure movie with just enough action, humor and showmanship to attract a large enough audience to turn a profit but not enough skill and creativity to qualify as a genuine blockbuster.
The film’s title refers to its hero, a demon captured and raised by the covert “Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense” to battle, as one character says, those “things which go bump in the night.” However, despite Hellboy’s professed preference for working alone, defending the world from the forces of darkness is the kind of monumental task that demands a group effort. And so, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) must lead inexperienced FBI agent John Myers (Rupert Evans), psychic merman Abraham Sapien (Doug Jones) and psychokinetic pyromaniac Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) from New York to Romania in order to prevent the demonically resurrected Rasputin and his Nazi minions from unleashing the Apocalypse on Earth.
Although “Hellboy” is by no means the grueling marathon of incoherence that was “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,” it suffers from a similar inability to fully develop its diverse array of characters and satisfactorily fuse its competing storylines. And while the film attempts to have some fun with the popular notion of government conspiracies, it lacks the wit and comedic ingenuity of the original “Men in Black.”
Ultimately, the audience is left with an intriguing concept and a story that feels both convoluted and underdeveloped. The script, credited to del Toro and Peter Briggs, juggles too many balls at once. In addition to introducing Hellboy and the world that he inhabits, it also includes his relationship with his adopted father, Professor Trevor Bruttenholm (John Hurt), his romantic longing for Liz and his frustration with new partner Myers. Also, let’s not forget the supernatural mayhem conjured by Rasputin, his eternally faithful lover Ilsa and their knife wielding comrade, Kroenen As if half a dozen plotlines were not enough, del Toro and Briggs also throw in an “X-men”-esque love triangle between the loveable rogue/hero, his by the book ally/nemesis and the woman who both men have no choice but to desire since she’s the only female not trying to kill them.
It is unfortunate that the filmmakers’ efforts to presumably gain cinematic validity by constructing a complex narrative ironically undermine the dramatic impact of the film and its hero. Whatever one’s opinion of his comic origins, on screen Hellboy is merely amusing, lacking the razor sharp wit and conflicted soul, which the filmmakers want the character to possess. The combination of uninspired one-liners and briefly sketched character traits results in a rather unimpressive hero, whose cinematic presence would be almost instantly forgettable if not for his unique physical appearance.
The disappointing flatness of the character is due to no fault of the actor behind the make-up. Although Perlman is virtually unknown to most filmgoers and thus might appear to be an odd casting choice, his role as Vincent in the 80’s television series “Beauty and the Beast” provided him with three years of experience playing a subterranean mutant hero. Whereas Blair appears to be channeling a disgruntled teenager and Evans fails to make much of an impression, Perlman does a solid job of embodying Hellboy and conveying his admittedly limited emotions despite the formidable confines of the costume.
From a narrative perspective, “Hellboy” is particularly frustrating because of the promise one glimpses in its premise. The plot is run of the mill comic book territory- the misunderstood guardian of humanity whose willingness to break the rules mirrors the inner conflict between good and evil, which he must ultimately reconcile. However, the combination of history, fantasy and science fiction lends the rather unexceptional story a colorfully diverting backdrop.
What “Hellboy” lacks in narrative cogency and character development, it tends to compensate for in an attractive and moody visual style. Working with cinematographer Guillermo Navarra and production designer Stephen Scott, Del Toro, like many filmmakers of his generation, displays a talent for stylization. However, unlike most other young, Hollywood directors, del Toro also possesses the discipline to harness this visual creativity to serve the movie, rather than his ego.
Although the story is set in New York City, the world del Toro has crafted appears one step removed from the one in which we live. This eerie detachment from everyday reality is perhaps most apparent in the sequences which depict the city at night, steeped in the yellow and green tones of the supernatural.
Also, the combination of old school and contemporary special effects which the film employs to bring life to Rick Baker’s creatures is a welcome respite from the blitzkrieg of entirely computer generated characters, which filmmakers have recently launched on audiences.
There are some other highlights to the film, as well. Del Toro manages to maintain a playful tone, which provides him with the latitude to combine elaborate action with often broad comedy, while lending the film an irresistible charm. And while the movie would have undoubtedly benefited from a stronger villain, Rasputin’s slicing and dicing sidekick, Kroenen, is by far the most exciting presence on screen.
With a little more wit and nuance and a little less narrative baggage, “Hellboy” may well have been this Spring’s “X-Men”; instead the movie is just one more underwhelming product off Hollywood’s comic book to movie assembly line.
Leave a Reply