Hellboy

Hellboy est cool. Il a du cœur, de la magie, de l'humour, un charme cool, une dimension fantastique et on sent que le scénariste et réalisateur Guillermo del Toro l'a fait avec amour. Cependant, ce n'est pas son meilleur film. Il n'y a pas assez d'action et la scène finale, la plus importante, est étonnamment discrète et bâclée rapidement. Sans parler de l'absence de dynamisme et d'élan général du film (à cet égard, Blade II était meilleur), ce qui ne devrait certainement pas manquer à une bande dessinée similaire. À moins bien sûr qu'elle ne soit capturée par une psychologie plus dramatique (comme X-Men 2), ce que Hellboy n'est pas. En effet, Del Toro l'a conçu comme un divertissement pur basé sur l'humour, la sympathie des héros, la laideur des monstres gluants et l'atmosphère magique d'un "autre monde". En gros, il a simplement entremêlé des scènes de repos, où nos héros se trouvent dans le laboratoire, avec des scènes où ils partent à la rencontre de leurs ennemis et leur en mettent plein la vue. Et ces deux aspects se succèdent malheureusement pendant deux heures sans rien résoudre de majeur et sans que nous soyons tendus pour savoir ce qui va se passer ensuite. ***1/2 (13/08/2004)

Le premier ne m’avait pas vraiment emballé… L’univers de del Toro est fantastique et efficace, mais personnellement, je le trouve ennuyeux, tout comme l’intrigue et les méchants presque inoffensifs. (05/06/2011)

Hellboy has huge potential, but the creators didn’t do a good job in transferring it to the screen. The greatest mistake is that they completely ignored the mysterious Gothic atmosphere that simply oozes out of the comic books. In terms of story this is an almost disrespectful mishmash and the only thing that saves the day is Ron Perlman in the title role of Hellboy himself. Add to that the rather sluggish pace, over-long running time and a lame finale. So the result is unfortunately a mediocre affair that can be watched once, but never again. (06/07/2004)

Hellboy is a comic book Accenture exactly to my taste. It has a devilishly dark and sometimes perversely disgusting atmosphere, humor as black as a freshly filled grave and a hero so sympathetically unsympathetic that there’s nothing quite like it. The main winner of Guillermo Del Toro's film is Ron Perlman, whose mask creation surpasses everything I have seen so far in the comic book remake genre. Hellboy is a hero with a soul who doesn't have to define himself to the world through tons of explosions and fights... it's a little big poem about the eternal feud between hell power and good human aspects, which turns into something almost poetically tender in that big red body. The scenes where Hellboy strokes a kitten with his stone hand or eats cookies on the roof in the company of a nine-year-old boy, debating love with him, are the highlights of the film. Del Toro was able to properly balance the ratio of action and conversation, thus joining the commendable trend of X-Men 2. It's amazing how a movie about a horned monster managed to impress me... but not only that. The film was able to entertain me with well-crafted action sequences (which, however, are rather only above average and old-world nowadays), and it suggested an atmosphere to me that balances on the edge of black comedy and horror. It too bad that in the end the film loses some of the escalation and directorial cleverness with which it is conducted (with a slight exaggeration). Hellboy's world is very sympathetic and understandable to me, which is why I hope that "Red" does not end his brash journey with this film. It would be a pity if this muddy hellish relic doesn’t get a successor... (30/09/2004)

A visually captivating, but plot-wise somewhat overwrought breather that, given the premise, could have been better. The action sequences aren't great, the humour sometimes misses the mark and del Toro isn't very good when it comes to psychology. A lot is made up by the visuals, which are quite striking despite the average budget of 60 million, with decent effects (even if sometimes too computer-ey) and good make-up (Hellboy and especially Abe Sapien are simply awesome). The script didn't give Roden much space, but Perlman radiates charisma for a hundred lengths of his devil's tail. On the other hand, there is the very bland character of a young FBI agent who tries to woo Hellboy's girlfriend, but is otherwise completely useless. All in all, a film that entertained me on average and didn't resonate with me after I left the cinema. We’ll see with the sequel. (24/09/2004)