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(About Our Ads) "HELLBOY" (2004) (Ron Perlman, Rupert Evans) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Minor Heavy Extreme *Moderate Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild Mild Heavy None Mild Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Mild Moderate Moderate Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Action/Adventure: A mutant superhero from the dark side battles the occult leader who unleashed him long ago and now wants to use him to complete his supernatural takeover of the world. PLOT: It's 1944 and occult leader Grigori Rasputin (KAREL RODEN) and his German assistants Kroenen (LADISLAV BERAN) and Ilsa (BRIDGET HODSON) are trying to bridge a portal into the supernatural world so that the Nazis can win WWII. The Allied forces kill Grigori and stop the effort, but not before a small, devilish creature crosses over. Adopted by Professor Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm (JOHN HURT) and raised as his son, Hellboy (RON PERLMAN) now lives at the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, a covert branch of the FBI. With devilish horns (that he keeps filed down) and tail, and a gargantuan concrete-like fist, Hellboy has a reputation for getting the job done when it comes to taking care of monsters and other such supernatural problems. He's also known for his solitary and caustic attitude that had led FBI rookie John Myers (RUPERT EVANS) to be named as his new nanny, keeper and best friend. Arriving at the BPR&D, John not only meets Broom and Hellboy, but also Abe Sapien (DOUG JONES), a psychic fish-man, and later Liz Sherman (SELMA BLAIR), a troubled fire starter. Hellboy is sweet on her and thus grows jealous when she seems to take a liking to John. Yet, he doesn't have much time to dwell on that. It seems that the immortal Ilsa and Kroenen have resurrected Grigori from the dead and now wish to complete their supernatural takeover of the world. With Head of Special Operations agent Tom Manning (JEFFREY TAMBOR) growingly increasingly perturbed with the mutants and their antics, Hellboy and the others pay him little heed as they set out to find and stop Grigori and the others before it's too late. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of the source comic book, movie adaptations of such work and/or anyone in the cast, it's a good bet they might. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For sci-fi action violence and frightening images. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: RON PERLMAN plays a mutant and devilish superhero spawned by the occult but raised with humans to battle evil. He smokes cigars, isn't sure how to deal with his feelings for Liz, has a sarcastic attitude and battles various villains. JOHN HURT plays the now elderly professor who raised him as a son and still overseas the bureau and its functions. RUPERT EVANS plays a young FBI agent who's assigned to be Hellboy's nanny, caretaker and best friend. He accompanies him on his various missions. SELMA BLAIR plays a troubled fire starter who isn't sure how she feels about Hellboy. KAREL RODEN plays an occult leader who tried to give WWII era Nazis supernatural powers and now wants to complete his takeover of the world. JEFFREY TAMBOR plays the head of special operations agent overseeing the bureau who doesn't like the mutants. DOUG JONES plays a psychic fish-man mutant who assists Hellboy. LADISLAV BERAN plays an undead Nazi villain who kills various people with his blades. BRIDGET HODSON plays Grigori's immortal Nazi assistant. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this action/adventure flick that's been rated PG-13. Violence consists of comic book style action where characters attack, fight, wound or kill other characters, villains and monsters with various weapons and by various means. Most of the deaths are fairly light when it comes to bloodletting, but some of the combatants are bloody and one scene features a body covered by all sorts of huge, crude and gnarly surgery scars. That sight, those of various monsters and some/all of the violence and action might be unsettling, intense or suspenseful to some viewers, but mainly for younger kids. Some of the material involves the occult and other supernatural elements, while various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes. Profanity consists of a collection of mild expletives, while various colorful phrases are present, as is some imitative behavior. Some non-explicit, sexually related comments/humor is present. Several characters smoke, a 6-pack of beer is briefly present, and tense family material involves the death of a parent. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, that briefly occurs in the film. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Hellboy uses his tail to snatch a 6-pack of beer from a park bench. He then tells Liz that he brought beer, but we don't see them having any. After learning that a monster left several eggs inside his arm, Hellboy sarcastically says that it didn't even buy him a drink (a sex-related joke). BLOOD/GORE A grenade is thrown in WWII and a German soldier is blown into an occult portal where he dissolves into a skeleton and so on. Another man's body and flesh are then sucked toward the portal (like globs) until his entire body is. We see young Professor Broom tying a tourniquet around his bloody leg. Kroenen stabs and kills a man and the victim's blood flows into a flat, maze-like structure resulting in a pool of blood from which Grigori emerges (covered in blood). Crude humor includes Hellboy joking to a monster that it's going to need some heavy fiber to move "that" (a guard's body) out of its system after eating part of it. Hellboy has some blood on his sleeve following a fight with a monster. Hellboy has a trickle of blood down his head. We see several close-up shots of an open wound on Hellboy's arm being spread apart. We see a flashback of kids chasing after and throwing rocks at Liz as a young girl, calling her a freak. She has some blood on her head and then catches on fire. Hellboy has some blood on his face following a fight with a monster. We see many crude, large and gory scars all over Kroenen's dead body. We also see that he has no eyelids and Broom opens the body's gnarly mouth. Later, that body comes back to life and sits upright (with more views of the crude and large scars all over it). Grigori's skin (on his hand and later his head) pulsates by the movement of something beneath it. Needing to resurrect a long-dead body to tell him where to find Grigori, Hellboy enters a grave and opens the casket, revealing a shriveled and decomposed body. He then resurrects it (and carries it on his back), but most of the ensuing material regarding it is played for laughs rather than horror or gore. Manning has a little blood on his finger after cutting it on a blade. Hellboy has a slight, bloody cut across his nose. John's face and hands are bloody. Hellboy has blood on his head. Ilsa has some blood on her. An enormous creature grabs Hellboy and thrashes him about a huge room. Hellboy then grabs a sword and begins slicing off its many tentacles (with some resultant goo). The creature then swallows him, but not before he activates a string of special grenades. They then explode from within the creature, killing it and sending goo everywhere (Hellboy is fine). Hellboy has various bloody cuts on his head and arm. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Grigori and his assistants have bad attitudes for wanting to help the Nazis win WWII using the occult and then for wanting to complete their supernatural takeover of the world. The Nazis have bad attitudes for being Nazis and trying to evoke occult powers to defeat the Allies. We see a flashback of kids chasing after and throwing rocks at Liz as a young girl, calling her a freak. Manning has a bad attitude toward Hellboy and those of his kind. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" might also be unsettling, tense or suspenseful to some younger viewers, as might the sight of various monsters or other gross images. Various roaches scurry about and briefly crawl on Hellboy (for those sensitive to the sight of such insects). Abe goes underwater in a dark city reservoir (a flooded former structure) where we see that something is swimming about. We then see that it's one of the monsters that then attacks and chases after Abe, eventually cornering him in a narrow passageway where it repeatedly tries to get him. During a fight scene with a creature, Hellboy tries to hold onto an open box of kittens and keep them safe. Grigori shows Broom an apocalyptic vision of the future where cities have been destroyed. Grigori's skin (on his hand and later his head) pulsates by the movement of something beneath it. Later, we see tentacles coming out of his mouth. Needing to resurrect a long-dead body to tell him where to find Grigori, Hellboy enters a grave and opens the casket, revealing a shriveled and decomposed body. He then resurrects it (and carries it on his back), but most of the ensuing material regarding it is played for laughs rather than horror or gore. Hellboy and others become separated from John, Liz and others by rising walls with blades on them in a subterranean room. A huge, swinging pendulum crashes through a stone bridge, tearing out part of it and sending an agent to his presumed death. Hellboy then slides Manning into an adjacent room and then races to get there himself, with the pendulum taking out more of the bridge ever closer to him with each swing. Hellboy and Manning slowly make their way through a tight tunnel that's filled with blades sticking out from it. Grigori appears to suck the soul out of Liz (while trying to make the shackled Hellboy comply with his demands). After a spell has been cast, Hellboy's devilish horns grow out of his head that's now also sporting some flames. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Rifles/Machine guns/Grenades/Other Explosives/Swords & Blades: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others. See "Violence" for details. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "What a load of crap," "Do that again, I'll carve you a new one," "What the hell /was that/is that?" "Ugly suckers," "Oh crap," "Screw this," "Freak," "Where the hell are you?" "Moron," "If I had legs, I'd kick your ass," "Your ass is mine" and "You Nazi son of a..." All of the fighting and stunts might be enticing for some kids to imitate. The infant Hellboy lets out a belch after eating a candy bar. JUMP SCENES Abe suddenly shows up at a window in a water tank. A monster's tentacle suddenly blasts out through some metal next to John's head. A figure suddenly passes by the camera in the foreground of the shot. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A heavy amount of suspenseful and ominous music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 7 damns, 7 hells, 5 craps, 2 asses (1 in subtitles), 2 incomplete S.O.B.s, 3 uses of "Jesus," 2 of "Oh my God" and 1 use each of "G-damn," "God," "Oh God" and "Sweet Jesus." SEX/NUDITY We briefly see small, and non-explicit, male full frontal nudity on ancient stone carvings on a wall. A miscellaneous couple briefly makes out on a park bench. After learning that a monster left several eggs inside his arm, Hellboy sarcastically says that it didn't even buy him a drink (a sex-related joke). When a monster tries to zap him with its long tongue, Hellboy jokingly says, "Second date, no tongue." Hellboy and Liz briefly kiss. SMOKING Hellboy smokes cigars around 5 times, while Manning smokes cigars a few times and a WWII solider has an unlit cigar in his mouth. TENSE FAMILY SCENES A character's father is killed and we then see the funeral scene. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT The question, "What is it that makes a man a man?" What it's like to be viewed (by others and yourself) as different. People in psychiatric hospitals. The supernatural and occult. WWII and Nazis. Talking about his unusual face, Hellboy says, "I wish I could do something about this." VIOLENCE Much of the following is presented in a comic book style rather than realistic fashion. A grenade is thrown in WWII and a German soldier is blown into an occult portal where he dissolves into a skeleton and so on. Another is crushed by a falling stone formation, while a machine gun battle between Nazis and the Allies results in various soldiers being hit (with no blood) and Broom is wounded in the leg. In addition, Kroenen slices and stabs various people with his blades (with no blood). When he then reaches for a grenade that's been tossed near the portal, it appears that his fingers are possibly cut off by the spinning apparatus. The resultant explosion blows him backwards against a pillar where a rod is then blasted through him and the pillar (we later see that he's gone). Another man's body and flesh are then sucked toward the portal (like globs) until his entire body is. A soldier shoots at the infant Hellboy, but misses. Kroenen stabs and kills a man. We see various bodies on the floor and property damage inside a museum (from a large monster that's finishing off the last guard of six that it's killed - it drops the body to the floor from the ceiling when done). Hellboy shoots at and hits a monster, but then learns that it cannot be killed. The monster then knocks Hellboy across the room, slams him to the floor and then knocks him back through various museum display cases, out through the building and then down to the alley several stories below. The creature then grabs Hellboy by the arm (causing him some pain) and John shoots it several times. It instantly heals and races off. Hellboy shoots it again, but it's okay and a chase scene ensues where John gets struck by a vehicle on a busy road. As a truck quickly approaches him, Hellboy steps in the way and punches his gigantic hand down onto its hood, causing it to flip through the air several times before crashing back to the road. A monster rips its way through a moving subway train. When Hellboy tries to follow it, he leaps and smashes onto the front of the train where the conductor repeatedly bashes a fire extinguisher into his face. Hellboy then falls and the train repeatedly bangs his head on the tracks as it passes over him. When the monster attacks him again, Hellboy grabs the track's electrified rail, shocking and then setting the creature on fire, killing it (Hellboy is okay as he's fireproof). He then lights a cigar with his burning hand. Abe shows Professor Broom a vision of what occurred earlier in the museum scene. We see Ilsa smash a glass display case, Kroenen slice a statue in two (to retrieve something inside it) and then take on various museum guards. Two shoot at him from a balcony, but he deflects the bullets with his blades, striking the two guards who fall from the balcony to the floor below. He then slices and stabs the rest of the guards, killing them (but without any blood). We see a flashback of kids chasing after and throwing rocks at Liz as a young girl, calling her a freak. She has some blood on her head and then catches on fire. Back in the present, this dream/nightmare has caused her to catch on fire and we then see various resultant fiery explosions, including the entire building around her exploding (presumably killing those inside it). Hellboy uses his massive fist to punch through a subterranean brick wall. Abe goes underwater in a dark city reservoir (a flooded former structure) where we see that something is swimming about. We then see that it's one of the monsters that then attacks and chases after Abe, eventually cornering him in a narrow passageway where it repeatedly tries to get him. A monster grabs an agent by the head and yanks him away, while another is chased and then attacked (we hear his screams, but don't see the impact). Hellboy takes a long fall with a monster down a shaft, causing property damage. They end up on a subway platform where a great deal of fighting occurs, including Hellboy yanking a public telephone from the wall and repeatedly hitting the monster's head with it. The creature then knocks out a support, causing a large part of the roof to collapse onto Hellboy (he's fine). Hellboy then breaks one of the monster's limbs, but it then knocks him to the floor and then knocks him a long distance across the platform. When it tries to zap him with its long tongue, Hellboy grabs it and swings the creature around the platform with it ending up down near the track and pulling Hellboy toward some vertically aligned shards of glass. An approaching train, however, smashes into the creature, freeing Hellboy. An FBI agent repeatedly shoots Kroenen, but sand rather than blood comes from the wounds. Kroenen then repeatedly stabs the agent with his blade (more seen than heard, although we see the motion). Hellboy breaks a panel of glass while mad at Manning. Trying to prevent John from moving on his girl Liz, Hellboy throws a small rock (from a distance) that hits John on the head (played for laughs). Grigori shows Broom an apocalyptic vision of the future where cities have been destroyed. Kroenen stabs his blade into a man's neck, killing him (in the dark and with no blood, but we see the body collapse to the floor). A huge, swinging pendulum crashes through a stone bridge, tearing out part of it and sending an agent to his presumed death. Hellboy then slides Manning into an adjacent room and then races to get there himself, with the pendulum taking out more of the bridge ever closer to him with each swing. Kroenen twice slices at Manning (partially getting his arm with one swing) and then at Hellboy, slightly cutting his nose. Hellboy then pounds Kroenen's metal face plate (denting it) and knocks him backwards. A trap door then opens and Hellboy nearly falls into a room of sharp blades. Hellboy then pulls Kroenen into that room, impaling him on those blades. He then drops an enormous machine gear down onto him. Liz, John and another agent find themselves trapped in a room filled with various monsters. Two then attack and kill that other agent (with John shooting at them), but Hellboy then pounds his way through the floor/ceiling and drops in on them. He then fights off many of the creatures that attack him. Liz tells John to hit her (to make her mad and thus start her flame process), so he slaps her. She then catches on fire, John runs and hides, and her flames then incinerate the monsters and more in the room (Hellboy is okay since he's fireproof). Grigori appears to suck the soul out of Liz (while trying to make the shackled Hellboy comply with his demands). Ilsa hits John on the head, stunning or knocking him out. A small cross burns Hellboy's hand. John knocks Ilsa to the ground and then kicks her face, knocking her out. Hellboy breaks off his newly grown horns and then stabs a villain with one of them (no blood). We see an enormous creature rear up and start to strike down toward Ilsa, but we don't see the presumed fatal impact. An enormous creature grabs Hellboy and thrashes him about a huge room. Hellboy then grabs a sword and begins slicing off its many tentacles (with some resultant goo). The creature then swallows him, but not before he activates a string of special grenades. They then explode from within the creature, killing it and sending goo everywhere (Hellboy is fine). Reviewed March 29, 2004 / Posted April 2, 2004