2004’s Hellboy begins with a seemingly simple question: “What is it that makes a man a man?” It continues this discussion - “Is it his origins, the way things start? Or is it something else, something harder to describe?” Personally, I love movies that start this way, especially fantasy films like this one. By asking questions that pertain to reality, the movie effectively anchors itself in our mind and almost immediately suspends our disbelief. This kind of effect is needed in a film that features a large red man and amphibious blue alien-like creature (those are the only words I can think of to describe him). The film continues our suspension by providing a historical grounding for the events portrayed. Its kind of a National Treasure meets The Hulk meets Pan’s Labyrinth film, if that makes sense.
As the opening statement is being made, the camera slowly circles in on a small island in the middle of a raging ocean. The speaker is revealed to be a young Professor Broom. He is the “paranormal advisor to President Roosevelt” during World War II and is leading a group of men against a Nazi force that is attempting to open a portal to another realm. The Nazis are stopped but not before the portal is opened for a brief moment and who knows how many nasty creatures have been transported to various places on earth. The army battalion soon comes across one of these creatures, a small, cute, red creature with a huge right fist. They name him Hellboy.
Fast forward several decades as a young agent named John Myers unsuspectingly is transferred to the Bureau of Paranormal Affairs. While being led through the building’s halls covered with strange artifacts, a much older Professor Broom further explains the purpose of the Bureau, “In the absence of light, darkness prevails. There are things that go bump in the night, Agent Myers. Make no mistake about that. And we are the ones who bump back.” Myers soon meets a much larger Hellboy, whose tough-guy attitude perfectly augments his huge body, and Abe Sapien—the intelligent blue amphibian described above. Myers’ task in the Bureau, however, deals solely with Hellboy and is explained to him by the Professor: “What I'm asking of you is to have the courage to stand by him [Hellboy] when I am gone. He was born a demon; we can't change that. But you will help him, in essence, to become a man.” A love story is revealed as well, between Hellboy and a certain Liz Sherman, whose tendency to burn everything around her when angry has placed her in a psychiatric ward.
With that said, it can probably be guessed that the remainder of the movie depicts Agent Myers, Hellboy, and Abe hunting down the creatures that came through the portal. This is true, but there are several much worse enemies that they encounter in a larger plot than is necessary for the film, but that translates the movie from good to great. This plot revolves around Hellboy’s quest to overcome his demonic nature and work for good.
The direction of the film is fantastic. Nothing less can be expected from Guillermo del Toro. The color schemes of the film are very telling; from the reds and gold of the Professor’s library to the blues always surround Liz. Content wise, the film has enough violence to earn it a PG-13 rating; and there are several instance of language, mainly h--l. But there was nothing that I found overly offensive.
Morally, the film presents some dilemmas. In one scene, Hellboy reanimates a corpse to guide them through the endless tunnels of the villain’s hideout. In addition, while the movie is based around the existence of hell, there is no mention of God or heaven. However, in a movie like this, these things can be overlooked. As it is a non-Christian movie, we must focus on what is present, not absent. The morals of friendship, loyalty, and love are all present in Hellboy.
The film opens with a question, “What is it that makes a man a man?” After a climatic sequence involving Agent Myers’ witnessing the depth of Hellboy’s love for Liz, Myers’ narration answers this question. “What makes a man a man? A friend of mine once wondered. Is it his origins? The way he comes to life? I don't think so. It's the choices he makes. Not how he starts things, but how he decides to end them.” As Christians, we know that by ourselves we are hopeless in our sin. In a way, we’re all like Hellboy. We’re all corrupted by sin, yet for us, salvation lies not in what we choose to do but in what Jesus chose to do.
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