In 1993, comic book writer and artist Mike Mignola introduced the world to Hellboy in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2. The comics became so popular that a film adaptation was made in 2004 directed by Guillermo del Toro. Starring Ron Perlman in the title role, the film was well-received by critics and a minor box office success. Four years later, a sequel was released entitled Hellboy II: The Golden Army, once again directed by del Toro. Like the previous film, it was well-received critically, even receiving an Oscar nomination, and was a box office hit. Unfortunately, while both films were hits, a third film was, ironically enough, lying in development hell for several more years. While del Toro, Perlman, and everyone else involved were all on-board for a third installment, everything fell through. Ultimately, it was decided to reboot the franchise instead and, in 2019, we have a new Hellboy.
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During medieval times, King Arthur dismembers Nimue (Milla Jovovich), a powerful witch who unleashes a deadly plague across the land. The King has her body parts sealed in caskets and has them hidden in various parts of the country. Cut to present time where Hellboy (David Harbour) is taken to the BRPD (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense). His adopted father Trevor Bruttenholm (Ian McShane) initially tasks him with meeting the Osiris Club and hunting down some giants. There, Hellboy learns about his past: he was found on an island during WWII after being summoned by the Nazis. Soon, the Osiris Club tries to kill Hellboy because it was prophesied that he would bring about the apocalypse. Eventually, they find that Nimue’s remains have been stolen and is being revived. With the help of young Alice (Sasha Lane) and agent Ben Daimio (Daniel Dae Kim), Hellboy must stop her.
Let me start off by saying that I loved the previous two films, and I’m disappointed there’s won’t be anymore. While I was going into this reboot with low expectations, I wanted to give it a fair shot. Unfortunately, even without comparing it to what came before, this was a huge disappointment and one I cannot recommend. While it’s welcome that this is R-rated as opposed to the previous films being PG-13, that can’t save this film. Even though Perlman is damn near iconic in the role, David Harbour does what he can given the material. Ian McShane is completely wasted, mostly delivering exposition and backstory, and he doesn’t have much chemistry with Harbour. The rest of the cast is pretty forgettable, though Jovovich is clearly having some fun playing an over-the-top villain. Even though there’s some action, there’s no reason to get invested because we’re never given character development.
While the previous two films mixed practical effects with CGI, this movie is mostly all CGI, and it looks poor. In general, this movie has a very cheap look, even with its $50 million budget. What’s disappointing is that the film’s director, Neil Marshall, has made good movies before, like Dog Soldiers and The Descent. At the time I’m writing this, there are reports coming out about some studio meddling causing much of its problems. You can see how, conceptually, much of this should’ve worked, but, in execution, a lot of it falls flat. For instance, there’s a scene where Hellboy fights off three giants, which sounds awesome, but was done poorly. Ultimately, I’d recommend just staying home and rewatching the first two movies over seeing this. Overall, while there’s some good ideas here and the cast does their best, Hellboy is a very unnecessary reboot.
