Hellboy is, in a word, messy. The plot is nearly nonsensical, emphasizing that in action movies, and especially comic book inspired action movies, the plot is often just an excuse for action scenes. The bad guy is laughable. The good guys are mostly forgettable. The effects are amateurish. It's a half-hour too long. Despite all of this, I liked it. I'm not going to argue that it's Great Cinema, but it's fun and watchable. It works basically because of Ron Perlman as Hellboy.

The Nazis are back as bad guys du jour. In the chaotic and somewhat silly prologue, a crack team of American soldiers and scientists spoil a welcoming party hosted by the Nazis. The guest of honor is Rasputin (Karel Roden), the mad monk, who was brought back from the dead, apparently by his Nazi girlfriend Ilsa (Biddy Hodson) and Kroenen (Ladislav Beran), the seemingly indestructible chief assassin of the Nazi party. The baddies want to open a portal to Hell to bring forth destruction and chaos that will end life as we know it. One wonders why exactly the Nazis would want to destroy the world, since they were so busy at the time, trying to conquer it, but no matter. Fortunately for us, the good guys interrupt the ceremony, and after the shooting and beheading die down, it appears that only one thing made it through the portal: a bright red demon baby, whom the scientist in charge tames with Baby Ruth bars and whom the troops name Hellboy.

We catch up 60 years later. That scientist is now Professor Bruttenholm (John Hurt), who is in charge of the US Institute for Paranormal Research, which does not exist, according to the repeated statements of the head of the FBI, Manning (a great Jeffrey Tambor). Despite its nonexistence, it is the home of several interesting "agents": there's Abraham Sapien (voiced by an uncredited David Hyde Pierce), a half-fish/half-man with ESP, and there's Hellboy (Ron Perlman), now all grown up into a massive red demon. He chomps on cigars, eats like a horse, and files his massive horns down into pepperoni-shaped nubs to "fit in." He loves cats (as pets, not as food), and he loves Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), a young woman who has a bad habit of becoming engulfed in blue flame when she is upset. Despite his advanced age, Hellboy acts a lot like a man in his early 20s. He likes to drink to excess and cause trouble; he's currently grounded for misbehaving. He has a babysitter named Agent Clay (Corey Johnson), but Dr. Bruttenholm is bringing in a fresh-faced one, John Myers (Rupert Evans), who quickly comes to terms with the fact that he's the caretaker of an adolescent demon.

There's trouble afoot: Ilsa, who hasn't aged a day, and Kroenen, who turns out to be barely human, bring Rasputin back from hell. At this point I realized that Karel Roden, the actor, looks like the Russian comedian Yakov Smirnoff with a shaved head. He sounded a little like him too. I don't know if Rasputin was supposed to be subtly ridiculous in this film, but he certainly was. What a movie!! Anyway, Rasputin sets some demons loose in a museum, tweaks Liz's firepower in the sanitarium where she's been hiding from herself, and generally causes trouble. It seems he has plans to use Hellboy to open those gates of hell that are always popping up when they're least expected.

The film lurches forward from event to event. It's best when it's not attempting to advance the plot, when instead it concentrates on some of the interesting characters it has to work with. The best scenes are the downtime, when nothing is exploding and no demons are squealing or eating anyone. My favorite scene is one between Manning and Hellboy; in the midst of chaos, they find time to bond over the proper way to light a cigar. The scenes dealing with HB's unrequited love for Liz are touching and funny; Perlman, as ridiculous as he looks, manages to turn Hellboy into one of the great humanist heroes of comic book movies.

The supporting cast doesn't fare as well. Aside from Tambor as the irritable Manning, the other good guys barely register. John Hurt, beneath Mark Twain makeup and wig, doesn't bring anything special to his part, which was written a long, long time ago. Selma Blair seems half-asleep, and it was a mistake to make her character, who literally catches fire, such a wet blanket. She's an ideal for Hellboy to fall in love with, not a person. Agent Myers comes off a little better, strongly resembling a cute puppy dog dressed up as one of the Men in Black. David Hyde Pierce makes his Aquaman—err, Abe Sapien—sound like a damp C3PO.

Guillermo del Toro has made better films, as well as better comic book adaptations. His Blade II was one of the most exciting pure action movies, and his The Devil's Backbone one of the most atmospheric horror films, in a long time. He has shown a talent for atmosphere and pacing, but both are largely lacking here. Guillermo Navarro can be a great cinematographer (The Devil's Backbone, Jackie Brown), but this film looked muddy. It didn't help that the effects were amateurish at best. Some of it just looked sloppy. There's a shot where HB is running across a crumbling bridge as it falls apart beneath his feet; it's patently obvious that he's actually hanging from a wire and wagging his feet over the falling debris.

I'm complaining too much. This was about as good as the first X-Men movie: watchable, mostly enjoyable, nothing special. It wasn't chaotic enough to run on pure adrenaline like Blade II did, and it's too patchy to work completely as a moody character piece like the first Batman did. But Ron Perlman is a joy to watch, and sometimes one great character makes up for a lot.