Many reviewers have written things along the lines of "it's not a great film, but it's a lot of fun, etc." I couldn't disagree more. It is a great film and incredibly creative and original for a high-budget, wall-to-wall action flick. Sure, the writers owe a lot to J.R.R. Tolkien, but then so does almost every fantasy writer. For example, why do the elves in Hellboy II live forever as long as they are not slain with a blade? Well, because Tolkien said so. But Guillermo Del Toro and Mike Mignola add a certain amount of weirdness to these films that I felt was lacking throughout most of the LOTR trilogy, but which is a necessary ingredient for fantasy. Peter Jackson is a master of the epic battle with millions of men, elves and goblins. But I prefer the smaller-scale and more bizarre action sequences in Del Toro's work, not to mention the comic relief. And at the end of the day I'd much rather have a Tecate with Hellboy than stand around and act like a proud warrior with Aragorn and Legolas.
IMDB
