I found the movie to be extremely derivative (a lot of scenes reminded me of other movies like Indiana Jones, Men in Black, X-Men, I could go on and on), but the charm and coolness of the Hellboy character made the movie enjoyable for me (to me the premise and character is the only real original aspect of the film and what carries it). I'm aware many of my fellow moviegoers and critics feel the same way.

Mignola's source material was well adapted to the big screen, but for some reason the execution just didn't come across as very original to me.

You DO NOT have to know anything about Hellboy to enjoy the movie. I knew some going in, but this is a movie that can appeal to a general audience.

The movie opened at #1 this weekend and will likely continue in top 5 for the foreseeable future due to strong word of mouth. I'm not in any hurry though to watch it over again.

Okay, here's what I don't get:

Dammit Groucho, now I'm going to picture Nazis in kilts all day...

I saw it with a friend last night... we thought it was dull and stupid. I haven't really seen many superhero movies that I've liked, so I think if someone liked the Xmen movies they should like this one just fine. For me though, it had too much talking about nothing really interesting and the action was all CG or bad wirework for the most part (the stuff with hellboy anyway). CG battles between 2 CG characters don't do much for me. I almost fell asleep twice and would've stayed down for the count the second time had the guy behind me not been kicking my chair.

I never understand people who go and see movies they typically don't like then come back here and gripe about not liking it. If it isn't your cup of tea, don't drink it!

Are we reading the same thread? Most people who have said they didn't like it have given reasons....you may disagree with their reasons, but that doesn't invalidate them. I think anyone who went into Hellboy expecting Spiderman or X-Men doesn't post here very often (or ever). Not everyone's going to like it, thats the fact. I too sometime get somewhat protective when people come on here and bash something I thought was great.

As for the person that posted that Daredevil and LXG were bad because they betrayed the comic, its not about the comic. It's about the film!!! I don't care how brilliant the source material is, what counts in evaluating a movie is every frame of film that gets projected....not what came before, not the source material, not the creators intent, the movie.

I don't know if this has been discussed, and I didn't want to read through 5 pages because I'm trying to avoid any spoilers:

Is this movie scary at all? My girlfriend is a wimp and can't stand scary movies, and she's afraid to watch this because she thinks it'll be scary because it has "monsters." I'm trying to tell her that it'll be kind of like X-Men and X2, movies she loved. We're going to try and catch a showing in 3 hours, so quick responses would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

You are forgetting all about the "Trigger Factor". you know, that dvdtalk rule that trigger needs to take the opposing stance on every issue that the majority shares. ;) Which is a surprise since the majority here sounds like they disliked it. :p

Nothing at all scary ... a few things are a bit 'gross' though.

You are so wrong from a geekboy perspective. Reading your past posts, you seem like the kind of person that if a director like Michael Bay or some other Hollywood big wig offered you a chance to work for him as his "yes man," you would leap at the chance.

I liked Blade, Hated Blade 2. Really like the X-Men movies and the first two Batmans. Wished Hulk had been better, but didnt hate it, I hated Daredevil, and didnt bother to see LXG.

BUT (SPOILERS BELOW! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!)

I really liked this movie. I am slightly aware of the comic because of a friend, but I had never read one in my life. The movie left me with alot of questions, and I do feel as though they must have deleted alot from the movie to keep it under 2 hours. Thought the characters were well thought out, the acting was fine (for this kind of movie) and I liked the story. I did feel the pacing was a little slow, and the action sequences had trouble getting off the ground, yet still, I liked it.

Most of my questions have more to do with not knowing backstory on the characters I guess.

Are Abe and Liz supposed to basically be mutants? Is Abe some species not originally from Earth or just one that has remained undiscovered (save for Abe of course) ?

Why was the FBI guy there at all? They say he was chosen cause he was Pure Of Heart, but how did they know that before meeting him? And what difference would his purity have made in this movie? Apparently the only purpose he served was to slap the hell out of Selma Blair. His character seemed to acheive little or nothing, with the exception of being Hellboys conscience at the end.

Takes Hellboy all of 30 seconds to defeat the Demon God??? Would have thought it would have been harder. At least as tough as a few Sammeals. Oh well.

Kroenan, what kept this guy Alive/Animated?? What did his Addiction to Surgery have to do with this? Last I heard you needed Blood, not sand to keep living.

Thats all for now.


Oh, and by the way, anybody who wants to see this, go to the latest showing you can. The freakin teenies in the theater were INCREDIBLY ANNOYING!! Walking back and forth, Cellphones going off like there was no tomorrow, loud talkers, you name it. Wanted to leave and then tactically fire bomb this theater. Guess I should stay away from bigger cities when i wanna see a movie in the future.

I'd like to propose a age limit on cellphones, must be 18 or older. Anyone with me?

Thanks! Off to the movies.

Saw Hellboy this past Saturday night. You know it was pretty good. Not up there in Spiderman standards, but fits nicely next to Blade and X-Men. I also never read any of the Hellboy comics so I was kinda in the dark with the background character stuff.

I have one question...why did Kroenan turn that damn dial on his chest? What does it do?

Guillermo Del Toro just posted this on the Hellboy board, thought it might be of some interest to people here:

I posted the message in its entirety because I figured if he's posting his email address in a public forum, it's fair game. But honestly, don't use it without good reason, I'd feel like crap if he got inundated with pointless emails on my account.

I didn't gripe - I merely said I didn't like it. No need to get all offended cuz I didn't like your movie.

Whats wrong with discussing a films flaws or high points???

I think somebody who spent their money to see this at the theater has the right to discuss this film, whether negative or positive to their hearts content. Don't be so protective of a movie just cause you liked it and another poster did not.

Thats half the fun of this site...

The discussion, good or bad.

I think what Dr. DVD was saying that if you know you generally don't like superhero films, why would you go see it in the first place, and then come in and complain.

I don't really agree with the logic, though, I see plenty of films where the genre or subject matter doesn't normally interest me, because I think I might be pleasantly surprised. Sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm very, very wrong (Bridget Jones's Diary comes to mind).

Well, I don't generally like the superhero films, but I did like Spiderman and the first half of the Hulk... I also liked Darkman and the Superman movies. I see alot of movies... I see movies even if I don't think I'll like em. I wasn't coming in here to complain as if I'm shocked that I didn't like it or wasted money or whatever, I was just coming in to say I didn't like it... this seems to be the review thread for it. I just don't typically make assumptions about movies being good or bad until I've seen it - unlike most people here seem to do. I learned at an early age not to judge a book by its cover.

I saw it today. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible. I have never read the comics, so I can't say if I would've liked it more had I read them.

It was among the better comic book movies, though.

I liked the movie a lot for the most part.

That said, the part with Abe Sapian swimming for eggs in the sewers really bogged the film down for me, dunno why but it just felt way out of place.

And what happend to the Commisioner guy?

Don't get me wrong, I was actually agreeing with you, I was just trying to expand a little on Dr. DVD's position for the purposes of clarification.

And, Rich, if you head back a little in the thread, you'll see we've discussed what happened to Manning.

That's all I came to do and instead I get accused of wanting to be Michael Bay's lap "yes man". I love superhero movie, I love comic book adaptation, they are my freaking cup of tea....but this brew didn't taste quite right.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Dr. DVD
You are so wrong from a geekboy perspective.

Great! What else am I supposed to judge the movie on beside what's put in front of me on the screen. If anything, loving the source should make me more critical of the flaws of the movie, not blind to them. But I never read Hellboy, my entire Hellboy exposure was this movie....and I didn't fall in madly in love with it as you are.

I think I read most of the early Hellboy comics, but it never made a huge impact on me, so I was lukewarm going into the film.

The attention to production/makeup design was well done, I just wished the story would have worked for me as well as I liked the look and feel of the film.

Should have stayed through the credits, my friend.

I'm with you. Murder them at birth!
If someone's prone to cel phone use, kill them as a child, then later bring them back (once they've gotten over the teen gangsta thing) and let them use dust (not sand) as blood and tick like a clock. Plus they will all wear very neat costumes. Their breathing will be a little raspy, but, Hey! No more Eine Kleine Nachtmusik during the movie. (Watch your feet.)