2004 · action · fantasy · superhero

Hellboy

Directed by Guillermo del Toro · 2h 2m · 2004

In the final days of World War II, the Nazis attempt to use black magic to aid their dying cause. The Allies raid the camp where the ceremony is taking place, but not before they summon a baby demon who is rescued by Allied forces and dubbed "Hellboy". Sixty years later, Hellboy serves the cause of good rather than evil as an agent in the Bureau of Paranormal Research & Defense, along with Abe Sapien - a merman with psychic powers, and Liz Sherman - a woman with pyrokinesis, protecting America against dark forces.

Our read: Hellboy (2004) reads as a warm, breathless, inventive action · fantasy · superhero entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, redemptive in outlook.