Hellboy (2019) Review

"Okay, I'd appreciate a prophecy with smaller and more relatable stakes."
-Hellboy



Hellboy (David Harbour) is a demon from hell that was raised by a human, Trevor Brttenhom (Ian McShane), to be a monster hunter for the United States government.  When Nimue, the Blood Queen (Milla Jovovish), rises to rid the world of humanity, Hellboy is sent to stop her only to discover he is a vital part of her apocalyptic plans.


What Works:

This won't take long.  First I have to say David Harbour was a solid choice to replace Ron Perlman.  He tries his best and it isn't his fault that this film doesn't work.  He brings some emotion to the part and does have some funny live deliveries.  He is easily the best part of the film.

There are also a couple of neat visuals.  The opening sequence is entirely in black and white with the exception of Nimue's cape, which is red.  Sasha Lane plays a psychic, Alice Monaghan, who can also channel the spirits of the dead.  I like how the spirits look when she does this.  It's grotesque and creative.


What Sucks:

This movie was all over the place in terms of plot.  There are so may different story elements, but hardly any of them come into play.  So much of this movie didn't matter and most of it could have been cut out.  A large part of the movie focuses on the legend of King Arthur and could have been completely erased.  It added nothing to the film.  

The CGI is pretty awful.  The original film, which came out in 2004, had better CGI than this piece of crap, and that is saying something.

One of the things I loved most about the earlier Hellboy films, especially the second one, is the team dynamic.  It wasn't just Hellboy, we had a whole team of wacky, but likable characters that were interesting to watch.  That isn't the case here at all.  Instead we get the aforementioned psychic, Alice, who is supposed to be the comic relief, but completely fails.  We also have Ben Daimio (Daniel Dae Kim), who is a military agent that can also transform into a beast.  It sounds good in theory, but he's ultimately underused and boring.  There isn't much to either character and they don't add much to the film.

Ultimately, I just didn't care about this movie.  We've seen this story before and done much better with the original Hellboy.  Hellboy II: The Golden Army set up a really exciting idea for a third film, but we never got that.  Instead we got this.  The whole movie, I was just thinking about what could have been.  The original two films really felt like someone's vision brought to life.  That isn't the case here.  If this movie was someone's vision, I strongly recommend they go see an eye-doctor.


Verdict:

Apart from David Harbour and a few interesting visuals, this reboot of Hellboy has nothing going for it.  The humor falls flat, the CGI is terrible, the story is all over the place, and the supporting character suck.  Guillermo del Toro created something special with the first two films and it's a shame we never got his third film.  Instead we have this...a flaming pile of demon crap and the worst film I have seen so far this year.

 2/10: Awful 

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