Hellboy
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: April 2, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Washington PostRichard Harrington
Del Toro moves his story along with unrelenting energy and wit while introducing the opposing parties with admirable efficiency. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
A perfect fit in the category of instant classic, and, not incidentally, fits the profile of super-profitability. Bursting the bonds of its genre, Hellboy fills the screen with gorgeous imagery, vertiginous action and a surprising depth of feeling.
90
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Surprisingly smart, graphically faithful live-action adaptation of the Mike Mignola series Read full review
90
SalonStephanie Zacharek
One of the most poetic comic-book adaptations to come along in years, yet it never loses its sense of lightness and fun -- del Toro gives it just enough screwball nuttiness to keep it from bogging down. Read full review
90
SlateDavid Edelstein
Guillermo del Toro is in a class with Peter Jackson as a fan-boy who gets it--a brilliant filmmaker who has a kind of metabolic connection to horror and sci-fi that helps him transform secondhand genre material into something deep and nourishing. Del Toro reaches into himself and finds the Wagnerian grandeur in schlock. Read full review
90
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Hellboy just might end up being one of the best movies you see this year. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
One of those rare movies that's not only based on a comic book, but also feels like a comic book. It's vibrating with energy, and you can sense the zeal and joy in its making. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
The movie's got a heart as warm as hellfire. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyJohn Patterson
One of the sturdier superhero movies of the last couple of years, with monsters and effects and diabolical baddies to spare, a heart as big as a house and a love story that actually gets its hooks in you. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Mr. del Toro lets loose with an all-American, vaudevillian rambunctiousness that makes the movie daffy, loose and lovable. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Played by Ron Perlman, he's the most magnetic action hero I've come across in a long while. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Directed by Guillermo del Toro with a colorfully kinetic visual imagination that seldom lets up. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Hellboy likely won't be the best comic-to-screen adaptation this year, but, squared off against its early-season challenger, Marvel's "The Punisher," this is the winner. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
The film - despite being a half-hour too long - is a rocking, rolling supernatural spectacle. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The screenplay has flashes of real wit, and Perlman is perfect in the title role. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Hellboy may be a big, noisy goof of a comic-book action film, but love is in the dank, dark, subterranean air as the bulky red-hued palooka tries to win the heart of the pyrokinetic beauty Liz Sherman. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Hellboy is on fire with scares and laughs and del Toro’s visionary dazzle. It’s the tenderness that comes as an unexpected bonus. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
The movie has a self- deprecating sense of humor and a strong emotional core that vaults it above most action movies that come out this time of year. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
There are other filmmakers who might have been drawn to a comic book as enchantingly ridiculous as Hellboy. But there are none who would have turned in a sleek $60 million picture as daringly silly, playful and imaginative as this one. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
So forget about taking anyone under 12. But if you want to see what a benign demon looks like when he's eating nachos and unwinding to Al Green, this is the movie for you. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Hellboy is, to borrow a phrase, one helluva good time. Read full review
75
PremiereSara Brady
If the film's love triangle feels a little silly and the arch-villains a little over the top, it's all secondary to del Toro's passionate immersion in Hellboy. Read full review
70
VarietyJoe Leydon
Has more than enough across-the-board appeal to attract mainstream auds unfamiliar with source material. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
An enjoyable if somewhat neutered defender of the free world. Make no mistake: Hellboy still has a hide as hard-boiled as Lee Marvin in "The Dirty Dozen," but now he's also wearing a smile. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Pretty much impossible not to like a little, but it's also hard to like a lot. There's a fantastic film to be made from this material, but now, the burden of making it falls to a sequel. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
To his credit, del Toro does not flinch from the ridiculous. But he is equally sensitive to Hellboy's pulp poetry. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
While the film ably thrusts longtime fans of Mignola’s highly stylized artwork and newcomers alike into the world of that ol' debbil Hellboy, the film suffers from both scattershot character development and a serious case of H.P. Lovecraft overdose. Read full review
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Will dazzle you while establishing the world in which it takes place. After that, you may wonder whether Guillermo del Toro got amnesia halfway through. Read full review
63
New York PostJonathan Foreman
Surprisingly enjoyable, as adaptations of cult comic books go, thanks to a sense of humor all too rare in the genre, winning performances by Ron Perlman and Selma Blair, and a sweet romance of the kind that made "Spider-Man" a richer experience than its competitors. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
It's a treat because, making no apologies for the source material, director Guillermo del Toro lets his picture gorge on power bars of pop energy, sugared with sprinkles of playful humour, and, at least twice, laced with a visual style so piercingly keen that horror morphs into beauty. Not bad for a pulpy outing. Read full review
60
EmpireKim Newman
Hellboy might not have the name-recognition factor of the Spider- or Batmen, but Guillermo del Toro brings the audience swiftly up to speed on artist-writer Mike Mignola's comic book anti-hero. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
For all its f/x pageantry, it is rather tired, as if it's the third sequel of a franchise, not the initial episode. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Standard-issue superhero movie -- except that writer-director Guillermo del Toro, taking his cue from "Hellboy" comic book creator Mike Mignola, brings a wicked sense of humor to this particular monster mash. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
Hellboy's adventures may take him to you-know-where and back, but the movie remains in limbo. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Arguing that you shouldn't expect rich characterization from a comic-book movie misses the point: Vivid relationships separate the graphic novels from the funnies and, in the end, spectacular set design is just window dressing. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Hellboy's cheeky attitude and snarky dialogue, specifically Perlman's snidely funny lines, are the highlights. Read full review
40
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
Hellboy is as much a wreck as "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" or "The Punisher," coming and going in two weeks, and as much a bore as "The Hulk." Read full review
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