How much more red could he be? None. None more red.

What if they made a superhero movie without the super heroics? A movie that focused on the personal life of the designated super-dude and relegated his day job to sub-plot status. Not that Hellboy is that movie; I'm just saying it may have been better if it were.

In the waning days of World War II, an adorable baby with fire engine red skin, horns and a tail is called forth from, you know, hell, by an unholy alliance of Nazis and Rasputin (really). Fortunately, Professor Bruttenholm, paranormal advisor to President Roosevelt is on hand to lure him over to our side with Baby Ruths and the promise of more Baby Ruths to come. He grows up to become Hellboy, well-fed slave of a secret government agency charged with fighting demons and whatnot.

He also nurses a semi-requited love for Liz Sherman, a sad-eyed young woman who bursts into flames when she gets worked up; has a troubled relationship with his foster father; and there's something fishy about his best friend. And it's these normal-with-a-twist subplots that are the best part of Hellboy .

Not a bad set of pecs, for a fish.

The main storyline, the one with all the CGI and world saving, is somewhat less successful. Some of those Nazis are still around and they set out to complete the vaguely defined plan that opened the movie. Hellboy fights the same monster several times in surprisingly uninspired action scenes. There's a big showdown somewhere in Russia that wraps up a bit too quickly. It all feels very loosely thought out and ultimately trivial.

But that's just the plot, and Hellboy offers other compensations for its shortcomings. First and foremost is its sense of humor. Writer/director Guillermo del Toro has infused the script with an exuberant wit. Hellboy's a quipper. Looking back on the burning remains of a fallen monster, he states the obvious: "I'm fireproof. You're not." Plus, there's something about a nearly indestructible super-being who still feels the need to carry a gun that I find inherently amusing. (Granted it's a really cool gun, but still.)

On the next episode of This Old House, Hellboy installs a water heater.

It helps that Ron Perlman is perfectly cast as the big red lug. He expertly pulls off the action scenes, the emotional moments and the funny, and even under all that red makeup and pounds of prosthetics his Hellboy is a realistic and human . . . devil . . . thing. You can identify with the guy, his romantic problems and his daddy issues. Maybe that's why I preferred the Sex and the Single Hellspawn parts of the story to the fighting and explosions. After all, saving the world is all well and good, but work isn't everything.  

With its ill-defined villains and annoying plot holes, Hellboy isn't a perfect movie. But if, like me, you're curious about how a superhero spend his free time, there's plenty of fun to be had.  

Gorilla Pants rating: 2.5 out of 4 bananas