Near the end of World War II, a desperate Hitler is experimenting with the paranormal. To counter it, Roosevelt forms the ultra top secret Bureau of Paranormal Research and Development. I wont spoil Hellboy’s origins, but fast forward to present day and we find the Bureau still active with Hellboy as it’s star player. He is joined by a fish like creature named Abe. Hellboy is 7 foot tall, red, has a a tail, stone fist and horns , and is often called “Red”. He provides the brawn while Abe provides the brains. Oh yeah, it should be noted that Hellboy likes to file down his horns to try to “fit in”. And that’s just scratching the surface of Red’s issues. Oh, and by the way, those pesky Nazis are still trying to take over the world unbeknownst to most of us.

I know nothing about the Hellboy comic, but in the movie universe he’s almost the stereotypical comic book hero. He is one tough powerful mother who can shake off just about any beating he receives just by cracking his neck. However, during down time when he’s not pounding monsters into oblivion he’s a mess, stressing out over trying to fit in as a regular person despite being, well, 7 foot tall and red for starters. When it’s time to go work, he’s right at home and has some classic one line wise cracks as any action hero should.

Hellboy is a lot of fun and delivers exactly what it promises. It feels like a comic book, and although the action is non-stop we get a great sense for the characters and what makes each of them tick. The movie is like some sort of weird mix of Xmen, Men In Black with a dash of LXG thrown in for good measure. And it works. We’re giving it a strong 4 stars, and this is a movie that makes me wish we had half star ratings so I could give it 4.5. It doesn’t quite reach a 5, but this is the type of movie that the MfG crew may debate about whether we should’ve given that 5th star for at least a few weeks especially if does well. Either way, you’ll wanna see this movie.