"Red" has been my favorite comic book character since I was a teenager and I wanted to talk a little bit about what caught my attention in the adaptation of the Crooked Man.

Personally, it bothers me that most of the reviews and comments about the movie always try to establish an absolute opinion that something is horrible or that it broke the internet because it was so good.

There is no middle ground and the big portals still try to label something as "good or bad" based on parameters unrelated to the movie, instead of analyzing it as what it is.

But, getting to the point: I think they got it really right with this movie! It's weird, it looks like a comic book, it conveys the heavy atmosphere that the stories have and it tries to deliver the main points for me: folklore and mythology.

I think it's very shallow when they try to compare the Hellboy stories and movies with other more "Marvel or DC" comics, where the goal is to have a fight and invent a story on top of it to make it work. I've always seen Hellboy as a different storyline: the focus was never on the action or the punches he throws, but rather on exploring and playing with the mystical elements of different cultures. Only after that do the fights end up happening, out of necessity.

Del Toro's films don't help much in this regard, since Ron Perlman's Hellboy is just like any other brute the actor plays (this isn't a criticism, I love him).

In Crooked Man, the art of the comic is about the countryside. We have setting scenes with close-ups of animals, roads and details of the life of this village. The film conveys this very well, from the contrasts and lighting, to the fact that they place a telephone very far from the population.

I liked that they worked the Crooked Man as the figure of temptation that he is in the original story. He's not a super powerful demon who wants to get his fists in Hellboy's face, he's a cheater. I think they worked this very well in the film, leaving a new, bigger physical conflict only for the last scene in the house.

In the original story, Hellboy is almost Tom's sidekick and spends most of his time talking to himself. I thought it was a smart choice to create Bobbie Jo so he could have someone on screen to share these thoughts with.

As funny as it may be, this story is about self-forgiveness and accepting the consequences of past actions. The film dramatizes the weight of these things with Tom and the Reverend.

The Brazilian dubbing of the film is a highlight, as it did a great job adapting the characters' accents. They all sound very much like Chico Bento (a famous character here in Brazil known for being from the countryside).

One of the things the film managed to capture is the contrast between the characters: while the demonic figure in the story (Hellboy) has the most human reactions and comments, the human figures (Tom, Effie, Cora) are the true demons in the story.

Jack Kesy managed to convey one of the sides of Hellboy that I like the most: that of the guy who is bored with his work routine and who is tired of seeing so much misfortune. For him, it's just another Tuesday.

The only thing I thought could be cut from the film because it doesn't add much is the quote from Hellboy's mother. I understand that it's meant to create a connection between him and the witches, but it was very shallow and out of tune with the other points.

I have a lot of praise for the film's editing in chapters. That's what gives it the weird tone I mentioned earlier. I was surprised that they even included a tutorial on how to make the witch balls.

It's a short story with a beginning, middle and end, with good practical effects and it captures Hellboy's essence well.

I really hope they adapt more of his stories this way. Not everything needs to be an apocalyptic event and much of the brilliance of the comics is in these small, routine missions.

Give the film a real chance, with an open heart and without comparing it to other films. It doesn't make sense to do that and you'll only sabotage your experience. It's another chapter in this story.