"At the end of World War II, the Nazis attempt to open a portal to a paranormal dimension in order to defeat the Allies, but are only able to summon a baby demon who is rescued by Allied forces and dubbed "Hellboy" (Ron Perlman). Sixty years later, Hellboy serves as an agent in the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, where he, aided by Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), a merman with psychic powers, and Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), a woman with pyrokinesis, protects America against dark forces."
Thanks to the Holocaust and World War II, Nazi's have become the universal epitome of evil. So when it comes to finding villains that would have you wanting a demon to win, Nazi's are a great choice; any character that goes up against them will instantly be a good guy. I can't help but think that this is both one of the best decisions with Hellboy, and also one of the weaknesses.
Hellboy has a very simple plot. That simplicity is what helps the film immensely because it allows more time to be spent developing the characters on the protagonist's side, rather than wasting time and energy on trying to explain a convoluted storyline (which is an incredibly easy trap to get caught in when you are trying to create a universe based on supernatural themes). In fact, despite having more space for the development of characters, at the end of the film, there are still questions and gaps in the lore that leave the audience wanting to see more.
Hellboy, as the titular character, gets the majority of the character development, and Ron Perlman does an amazing job pulling off the cocky and confident exterior personality while still leaving room for insecurities and anger issues. As well as personality, for a film that came out 15 years ago, the effects and prosthetics are top-notch with no visible seams or inconsistent colour. It all looks very much a part of Perlman.
The effects, in general, are very good. Quite likely something that could be put down to the lower budget that the film had, but a lot of the effects done are practical; whether mechanical or a person with prosthetics. The practical effects add so much depth to the visuals that it still looks good today. The CGI is used as little as possible and the film thrives thanks to that decision.
With Hellboy getting most of the focus in this film, his teammates Abraham Sapien and Liz Sherman end up underutilised. In fact, despite Abe Sapiens great costuming and make-up, he only gets to be in involved in one good underwater scene, otherwise, he has little role to play in the entire film beyond providing exposition for the enemies. Liz Sherman does have more of a backstory and connection with other characters in the film, but is largely used to create conflict in one of the worst decisions in the film; the love triangle.
Now, I have never been a huge fan of love triangles. It often pushes this idea that women have no role beyond being an object for the men to fight over. And really this triangle was incredibly poorly written, with absolutely no chemistry between two of the characters, making more of a love...arch? I'm not sure, the metaphor falls apart pretty quickly, but the entire character of John Myers really has no place in this film but to force conflict. The other aspects of the love interests are actually quite respectfully done, so kudos to that portion.
The villains are a bit hit-and-miss. Kroenen is visually spectacular; such a simple concept that looks and is perfectly choreographed and developed making him the most provocative and exciting character by far. The demon Sammael is quite intimidating but does come across inconsistent, and while their action scenes are well choreographed, they do tend to go on a little too long, tiring the premise. The big bad of the film, Rasputin, is a disappointment. There is absolutely no emphasis placed on his character at all, and he has such a minimal role, that you could quite easily remove him from the film along with Myers and not affect the plot at all. In fact, the climax of the film ends up anticlimactic, as if there is no threat at all.
The film plays with the themes of destiny, fate, and the ability to make your own decisions. Nature vs nurture. And it builds into that character development, providing another aspect of relatability between Hellboy and the audience. This is truly his film. With great practical effects and some of the best developed supernatural characters in a long time, there is a reason why people love Hellboy, but while Hellboy gets his dues, the antagonists end up being neglected and the overall story does suffer for it. Still, it's an entertaining and vibrant watch!