Almost eleven years have passed since Guillermo del Toro's sequel to his 2004 film Hellboy released to an unfortunate box office return, resulting in a sad possibility that del Toro may never be able to finish his Hellboy trilogy. Despite being one of the best directors working today, del Toro's Hellboy films came out at a time when audiences just weren't as willing to accept his weird comic book adaptations when compared to films like 2004's Spider-Man 2 and 2008's Iron Man. While many adored del Toro's take on the crimson hero (even going so far as to advocate for a third film on social media), it wasn't enough for Lionsgate to warrant any interest in the hypothetical project. By 2017, that sad possibility became a hard truth.
I feel like this is important to bring up because it gives context to the uphill battle 2019's Hellboy has been facing all the way up to its release. Even if we ignore the whitewashing scandal (which was easily avoidable), the reboot has had a rocky journey whether it's the odd marketing, the fan backlash, or even the production troubles that have come to light days before its release. Despite a great choice for Hellboy and an interesting choice for a director in Neil Marshall, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried going into the film. I love del Toro's take on the comic and while I understand Lionsgate's disinterest, it's a bummer that I'll never see what a third Hellboy film from del Toro would be. That being said though, Hellboy is Hellboy so I went into the R-rated reboot hoping that it'll at least be a fun take on the demonic paranormal investigator and the dark, fantastical world around him.
2019’s Hellboy follows the titular character as he goes up against a powerful witch from the Dark Ages named Nimue (Milla Jovovich). Slain by King Arthur in 518 A.D., the witch's body was dismembered and scattered across the world in order to keep her from bringing about the apocalypse. Fast forward to the present and the monsters Baba Yaga (the legendary Russian creature) and Gruagach (a pig creature) seem to be plotting to bring back Nimue, mostly as revenge against Hellboy. With the help of his father (Ian McShane), an old psychic friend (Sasha Lane), and a special agent named Major Ben Daimio (Daniel Dae Kim), Hellboy is tasked with destroying Nimue and stopping the apocalypse she plans to bring about. However, things become more complicated when Hellboy discovers his true purpose: to ring in the apocalypse he's been assigned to prevent.
One of the most glaring issues with the reboot is that its story feels rushed throughout its entire runtime. Both the film's opening and ending are at a breakneck pace, resulting in a final product that feels like it's trying to speed through solely out of embarrassment. It also doesn't help that the film is conflicted with how it should handle the development of this new Hellboy universe. It'll have Hellboy talk about past adventures we've never seen like he's in a Star Wars prequel while also giving way too much screen time to his origin, halting the film's actual story to give us a synopsis of an origin most people seeing the film will, at this point, probably know by heart. There are new elements to his origin but they're predictable and the least important when it comes to the emotional core of the film. This leads to a film that obviously doesn't want to be another Hellboy origin film yet can't be a pseudo-sequel due to how different the world is to del Toro's films, creating an identity crisis that halts its story to give us backstory on characters and situations that would've been more impactful had the script focused less on jokes and sequel-baiting and more on giving those same characters time to breathe and grow.
While on that topic, the characters are disappointing. Each major character feels like either an exposition machine or a quip machine with the usual scenario being a mix of the two. Ian McShane pales in comparison to the late John Hurt's Broom, Sasha Lane is an excessively British sidekick that I had a hard time taking seriously, and Daniel Dae Kim's Daimio is a rushed and uninteresting sidekick despite having an unusual secret. All three actors have shown to be great when given the opportunity so it's pretty clear it's the script's fault more than their own. The only outlier to this is Milla Jovovich's Nimue only because she's neither good nor bad; she brings nothing noticeable to the table.
The biggest disappointment though comes from Hellboy himself: David Harbour. While never going to win when compared to Ron Perlman's interpretation, the Stranger Things actor has been only getting better with each role, causing me to get excited because I could mentally see Harbour doing Hellboy well. Unfortunately, the Hellboy the script gave him is snarky, angsty, and far from as cool as the film wants you to think he is. Even the rough prosthetic work isn't the biggest issue because the character himself feels like such a lame duck, coming off as a juvenile, unlikable protagonist rather than the quippy hero with a heart of gold the film is attempting to construct. Personally, it's the biggest missed opportunity of the film that just sours the rest of the experience because anyone who has seen David Harbour act knows that he deserves better.
Thankfully though, Hellboy isn't all bad. There are a few cool visuals, an interesting directing choice here and there, and creature designs that were quite creative. The visual effects are noticeably worse (especially when compared to the previous two live-action films) but when the stars align, there are moments where the creatures look good. An easy example is the design and performance of Baba Yaga, a disgusting creature that feels like this film’s best attempt at the amount of passion del Toro’s Hellboy adaptations would put into their creature designs and effects. Plus, while Harbour’s Hellboy looks worse than Perlman’s design overall, I really liked the little changes and details the film put into his horns, his rocky right hand, and his “beast mode” form. I don’t think any of this is enough to excuse this film’s problems but I can’t lie to myself: I love how that flaming crown looks.
In the end, while I don’t enjoy constantly comparing 2019’s Hellboy to its previous iteration, it’s hard not to think about the Guillermo del Toro films while watching it. The reboot works better as a pale imitation of del Toro’s work than as a standalone film because it can barely stand on its own. Despite a talented cast, a premise with potential, and a decent director, the bloated script and cheap visual effects bog everything down to the point where the final product is boring, gratuitous, and absent of any real substance. The gore is obnoxious, the comedy usually falls flat, and the rebellious, rock n’ roll tone that the film marketed itself as is barely present. To clarify, I honestly don’t hate the film nor did I entirely regret watching it. It’s just hard to really care about 2019’s Hellboy when I’d rather be home watching the 2004 film, reminiscing on a time where I didn’t have to distinguish between a great del Toro film and an unfortunate mess of a reboot.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU55vwvEJmk]