Hellboy 2019 Review

Hellboy (2019)

“Who the Hell is this film even for?” 

 This film comes at us in a time where a Hellboy film is neither needed nor relevant. Just over 10 years later on from Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (2008) we now a have a full reboot of the Hellboy universe with a few differences. These differences are in no way an improvement on what we had before. Whilst I have my problems with the representation of Hellboy in the first two films, coming away from this new film I can’t help but look back the older two and appreciate what we actually got. I am going to forewarn anyone reading this that I may spoil the events of the film but to be honest if you have seen more than one trailer for the film then you have basically seen the entire thing anyway. I will leave out any major spoilers though (Character deaths, plot twists) so don’t panic. 

 I am no expert in the works of Mike Mignola but I have read my fair share of graphic novels and comics stemming from Hellboy and the BPRD. I personally didn’t think we needed a Hellboy re-boot. At the very least they could have made a BPRD film featuring Hellboy? Or an Abe Sapien standalone film? As we see from the comics there is plenty of source material in this comic book universe. Abe Sapien is a strong enough character to carry a film and then lead on into a Hellboy film. I can see the apprehension for this topic though as it has only been a few years since The Shape Of Water (2017) in which we see an amphibious male looking almost exactly the same as Abe Sapien. I think its common knowledge that Gulliermo Del Toro directed The Shape Of Water and also the first two Hellboy films. Not to mention Doug Jones playing the Amphibious Male in TSOW and also playing Abe Sapien in the first two Hellboy films. 

 BUT a BPRD film would have worked so well in the vein of an Avengers type of film, well not exactly like the Avengers but a team of supernatural characters working together and fighting horrors around the world would have been much more interesting than a Hellboy solo re-boot. While Hellboy 2 does feature a lot of BPRD content I still think a less Hellboy centric film would have worked better simply based on how well the comics flow without Hellboy even being present. Liz Sherman, Johann Kraus and Roger would made a far better impact on myself and many other fans of the series if they were to carry their own film. 

 The unexpected appearance of (SPOILER WARNING) Lobster Johnson was definitely welcomed. While anyone who hasn’t read the comics will have no affiliation with the character (at least I don’t think) this really is only a reference comic book fans will notice. Which brings up the question: Who the Hell is this film even for? Surely fans of the comics like myself won’t really enjoy the film we received? I actually like parts and had some fun with the film but to be honest this was not what I wanted at all. I don’t mind it when comic book films aren’t comic book accurate per say. I like it when they introduce new elements to the world or save the viewer the hassle of the huge lore in places to focus on the here and now of a film. 

It is virtually impossible not the make constant comparisons to the other two films because they are still so fresh in my memory. And this new film can’t be aimed at an audience that doesn’t hold people who have seen the first two right? Because the viewers are all well and truly old and experienced enough with these kinds of films to see that it’s the same but different. 

 David Harbour is a brilliant actor and I can honestly say I think I prefer his acting work (other than Hellboy) to the work of Ron Pearlman. In this role there are far too many similarities in the physical and sarcastic humor. Whilst Harbour’s character feels somewhat more jaded and serious, Pearlman was more sarcastic and juvenile (despite being played by a 50 year old man). To be honest neither of the versions really capture my idea of what the character is in the comics. Maybe it is impossible to get a live action version of Hellboy right? Because they have had enough attempts now and it’s getting weird. Even old Abe Sapien couldn’t avoid being made into a slightly camp fishy weirdo. In the comics he feels a lot more grounded. Perhaps the version we got in the films works better on screen? 

 When it comes to the practical and special effects there is an over the top amount in both versions. When Hellboy (2004) came out I was initially apprehensive of how he looked. A bit rubbery and clunky and the fist of Doom was sometimes animatronic and sometimes CGI. However looking back the Pearlman costume actually looked more realistic than what we got in the most recent version. There were shots in the new film where Harbour’s eyes are shut and he looks to one side, you can see where the eye and make up join onto the rubbery mask of Hellboys face. It’s just not as good and it’s hard to understand why and how all of this happened? There is a kind of man-jaguar like character in this film played by Daniel Dae Kim which you may remember from the trailers which gave everything away. This character was actually used quite well. The movement and effects worked and despite the character being a bit generic the charisma of Dae Kim was welcomed. Professor Broom is swapped out from John Hurt to Ian McShane who plays Broom as a less bookish and wise type of character and more of a younger badass dad who doesn’t really care about anyone. He’s less likable than Hurt in this role but I enjoyed his delivery of the role. 

 Being a Welsh/ English British person I felt physically ill when faced with the monstrous English accents attempted by the cast in this film. To be fair a lot of the actors are actually British but the only core cast member actually being British is Ian McShane, who does a fine job might I add. I’m not even slagging off actors who do accents in roles either, because there are stacks of English actors doing American accents in every film and TV show there is. It wouldn’t bother me so much if the script hadn’t played up to accents so ham fistedly. It’s not a spoiler to say that most of the film is set in the UK so it’s clear why there is going to be English accents flying around as standard. It’s just a shame that two of the main characters are Americans playing Brits. The worst of the two is Alice Mongahan played by Sasha Lane, who delivers lines written by some idiot who loves cockneys and Oliver Twist or something. I have never met anyone who has seriously and conversationally used the word “Todger” when referring to male genitalia. I am sure she was great in her other roles and I hate bashing people but this whole character was so dull and lifeless I cringed whenever she opened her mouth. Not only does she look unconvincing in the role she also lends no emotion to what could have been a really engaging and interesting character. 

 This film was given an R rating from the offset which didn’t really bother or interest me to begin with. I think one of the reasons this film went so badly was because of the constant gut wrenching gore and disgusting contortion of witchy characters. It’s no surprise that the gore and freaky stuff is featured in this film as we have seen more of the same from director Neil Marshall before. There is some pretty cool choreography and action set pieces in this film that I can’t really complain about but there are also some scenes with some brutal and foul dismemberment. Some really foul themes get tossed in the mix and I found it really jarring. When you have characters like Babayaga (The shit-scary witch) you kind of have to expect things to get horrid. I have to admit I found it hard to watch her scenes, hats off to team who designed her and the direction there, genuinely scary. The gore is immediately present with the opening scene which gives a bit of historical context regarding the films big villain ‘The Blood Queen’. I believe the ‘F word’ is used in the second sentence of the whole film. It doesn’t get any easier after the opening scene so buckle up.

 In conclusion (god this took way longer than I wanted it to) I had some fun with this film. I wasn’t blown away by the opening scene and the jokes fell so flat it was a bit sad. I was well and truly overwhelmed by all of the unnecessary gore. The swearing felt wrong in places and the audience for this film is so unclear. I just hope that if they ever do make a sequel they will put more effort into the casting, the tone and the characterisation. I still love Hellboy, despite how much this whole film made me want to blow my own todger off.