Despite maintaining a relatively obscure existence, this is not Hellboy’s first foray into mainstream entertainment. He’s guest starred in video games like “Injustice 2,” had a few direct to video animated films, and was the subject of two PG-13 films in the early 2000’s from Guillermo del Toro. However, this latest film has no involvements from del Toro or his original cast and is instead coasting in on its R-rating and its new Hellboy: actor David Harbour (“Stranger Things”). However, is that enough?
Harbour, who’s made waves recently due to his enthusiasm for the role, isn’t working any kind of magic here. His Hellboy is just a big lumbering whiner, and while that works for some of the film, his pessimism and complaining nature continue past the point when he’s supposed to have grown out of it. This results in a character who’s sapped of just about any charm Harbour could bring to him since he just becomes progressively more annoying.
The rest of the cast doesn’t do him any favors either. Daniel Dae Kim (“Lost,” “Insurgent”), Ian McShane (“John Wick,” “On Stranger Tides”), and Sasha Lane (“American Honey,” “Heart Beats Loud”) seem to be only good for shouting lines at each other in various irritated tones. Most of their characters follows arcs that just plain don’t make any sense.
Milla Jovovich (“The Fifth Element,” “Resident Evil”) is the only one who seems to be doing anything of note. Whether that’s because of her ample experience in these kinds of cheesy genre flicks or not is unclear, however she is the most enjoyable actor to watch in the entire film.
Part of the blame lies with the actors, but a larger chunk has to be because of the script. While it isn’t incomprehensible, writer Andrew Cosby’s (“Eureka”) script sure is trying its damndest to be. Most of the plot revelations literally require other random characters to be pulled in from nowhere to tell the main cast what to do and how to do it.
Sure, most of these sequences look cool, like the house of Baba Yaga, but it doesn’t save the film from the fact that the writing and plot are so poor, that they couldn’t even find ways to naturally let it play out.
By the way, this “Hellboy” film is rated R. Don’t worry if you didn’t know that, because the film won’t let you forget it. While previous superhero films have dabbled in the rating of blood and gore, “Hellboy” makes them look like Saturday morning cartoons by comparison.
Literal waves of blood and gore can be seen on screen and they aren’t the least bit effective. It’s cool, at first, but the lack of restraint in any capacity eventually dulls the impact and makes it boring. When the film does a zoom on a shattered skull in the third act, it doesn’t mean anything because it’s almost the fifteenth time it’s been done.
Most of the gore isn’t that impressive either. For once it seems like the CGI is better looking than the practical effects, and that’s saying something considering the CGI looks pretty bad. Most of the visuals benefit from practical sets and a thick layer of darkness, but when they’re absent, the cracks start to show.
Monsters and most of the gore look like early PlayStation 3 games, and the practical effects look like they’ve been hobbled together out of Party City supplies. The only exception is Hellboy himself, and it seems like most of the budget must have gone to making him look excellent, because damn does he look excellent.
Even without these problems, the film at its core is a headache to watch thanks to some laughably bad editing from Martin Bernfeld (“Power Rangers (2017),” “Project Almanac”). The cuts back and forth come so frequently and quickly that it becomes almost nauseating. It’s as if the no one told the directors that, just because you have the shots, doesn’t mean you have to use all of them. Things cut so frequently and with such random nature, it’s as if the cuts were made at random, by throwing a dart at a dartboard.
This “Hellboy” is mostly a film of excess, and that’s where its problems lie. There isn’t just an excess of gore, an excess of plot devices, and an excess of editing, but there’s a lack of trust in the audience. Seeing Hellboy pull up to a building while “The Devil You Know” plays isn’t clever, it’s just groan inducing. The number of times people re-explain Hellboy’s internal conflict to him border on idiotic.
This is a movie where the creators felt their ideas were just so clever, they wanted to make sure they were obvious to the audience, by over explaining them every chance they got, in any way possible.
Apart from some decent-ish makeup and a cheesy good performance from Milla Jovovich, there is literally no reason to see this film. Its painful editing and unnecessary levels of gore would be bad enough, but it’s the way it treats itself high and mighty. It talks down to the audience, constantly trying to over explain a script that is barely coherent by itself. If there’s any desire for a Hellboy adventure, just rent both del Toro films. They’re legitimately incredible fantasy adventures. As for this version: stay the hell away. 1/5
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