Hellboy

When this movie first came out, I had absolutely no interest in seeing it. I didn't exactly have a change of heart or anything, but I was in the mood to see a fun movie on Sunday and certainly this one didn't seem like an "issues" movie. And was I glad I watched it! I really don't even know where to start. Rasputin (Russian with ambiguous/no accent) was working with the Nazis (German with British/no accent) to open a portal into hell to bring forth an army or something to defeat the Allies. The Professor (British with tweedy voice) was working with the Americans to stop him. Rasputin manages to open the portal, but was defeated. However, a little baby demon made it through and was thereafter called Hellboy. All of this happened within the first ten minutes of the movie. So awesome. Anyway, of course Rasputin comes back (his resurrection seemed awfully simple) to wreak more havoc and Hellboy must choose which side he wants to be on as well as deal with the throes of love (in a manner more suited to a teenage boy than to a supernatural hero). The plot is quite straightforward and all of it was extremely entertaining. One particular highlight for me was the presence of that actor who played George Bluth on Arrested Development. The man is crazy hilarious, no matter what he is doing. How he makes comedy of dour is beyond me. At the end of the movie, I felt a few years younger and ready to see Hellboy2. Rate ***** (awesome meter)