Perlman, at age 53, strides in like a hungry young actor itching to prove something, only with 22 years of experience lending him charisma and confidence.

Played by Ron Perlman, he's the most magnetic action hero I've come across in a long while, though I couldn't make heads or tails of this story.

Unfortunately, after setting up this fresh blue-collar scenario in the movie's first hour, Del Toro wallows in pyrotechnics.

As expertly played by Perlman, even with tons of make-up and prostheteics, our hero is a good 'monster' whose origin haunts him to the bone.

Del Toro’s energized adventure has humor, excitement, and soul to burn.

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Aside from some of the specifics, we’ve seen all this before. The film steals from everything from Batman to The X-Files and while there’s lots and lots of good violent fun...

... a dull, derivative, poorly plotted movie. Hellboy's enemies are interesting at first, but they wear out their welcome quickly.

Perlman has not only the towering body, sculpted face, and commanding voice for such a role, he exudes a very humane heart.

Hellboy sometimes pumps new life into the shopworn conventions on which it is based, but never entirely manages to transcend its pulpy origins.