[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”19737″ img_size=”900×500″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]When it was announced that a new Hellboy movie would be moving forward without Ron Perlman and Guillermo del Toro, I was not happy at all. I still feel Perlman deserved an ending to his films but despite all that I wanted to go into this new Hellboy movie with an open mind. I have always enjoyed the comics and the reports of this movie being more true to the comics really excited me. Once the reviews came out from critics (15% Rottentomatoes) I still went into this movie wanting to enjoy it and make my own decisions about the film.
Let me start out with the cast. David Harbour was terrific as Hellboy. I loved that his take was different from Perlman’s, never once did I feel Harbour was trying to copy what Perlman did. I loved David’s wit and humor and his Hellboy just came off more broken. His Hellboy feels as though humans and creatures should be able to live together and he isn’t to happy about being raised to kill his own kind. He really is a tragic figure in this film. Though it does seem like they are setting up the Hellboy we saw in the previous two movies. The last few minutes of the film and a very funny mid credit scene really give us a glimpse of what we can expect from Harbour’s Hellboy going forward should we get a sequel.
Ian McShane as steps in as Professor Broom and his take on the character is much different than the late John Hurt’s. Hurt’s Broom was much more father figure like while McShane is an admitted killer who as Hellboy puts it, raised him more as a killer than a son. They have that true dysfunctional father/son relationship. McShane really just does what he does best and that’s cuss and kick ass. How can anyone not love that?
Milla Jovovich is the Blood Queen Nimue. She is set up as the main villain of the film but that is very debatable honestly. While she does make her presence known that she could be this great all powerful villain, she just does very little and I felt as though she was kind of wasted as an actress. I love Milla but other than a couple cool moments she really was not needed. Honestly the humans, Gruagach and Hellboy himself are more villains of the story than Nimue is.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”19738″ img_size=”900×500″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Daniel Dae Kim as Ben Daimio, Sasha Lane as Alice Monaghan, Doug Tait as Gruagach and an awesome cameo from Thomas Haden Church as Lobster Johnson round out the cast. Make sure to stick around for one of two post credit scenes for a pretty hilarious moment with Lobster Johnson.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”19740″ img_size=”900×500″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]I have seen a lot of complaints about the CGI but I have to disagree. There might be a few moments where the CGI seems off but it wasn’t Superman mustache bad or Black Panther final fight bad. I think they did a great job on a reported $50M budget. The creature designs I thought we well done. Hellboy’s costume made him look much more demonic and scary than the previous films. Gruagach as the humanoid boar looked very good and better than I expected. The only time he looked out of place was during the climatic battle due to his increase of size. Baba Yaga the witch, the creatures of Hell and the giants all looked very good in my opinion.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”19739″ img_size=”900×500″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]My only real complaints about this film are the villain because she isn’t much of one. As I stated earlier the humans and Gruagach are more of a threat to Hellboy and the BPRD than Nimue. The plot is very convenient when it comes to defeating her and the twist of the film is pretty lame and unneeded. The story is pretty basic as well but it’s held together by the performance of the cast and some cool action moments including Hellboy vs three hungry giants. They do show Hellboy’s origin which introduces us to 3D glasses wearing Nazi’s and the scene stealing Lobster Johnson.
Overall I went into this movie separating it from the previous films and walked away having a good time. I really loved the feel and look of the film. Hellboy looks so much more demonic than the previous version. I know many are still bitter that GDT and Perlman didn’t get their finale but if you’re a fan of the comics then you might really enjoy this film. So far fans seem to enjoy it and hopefully it can make enough at the Box Office for us to get a sequel. The film does try hard to set up one with its ending plus a pretty cool post credit scene with Baba Yaga.
Final verdict: 3/5
Synopsis – Based on the graphic novels by Mike Mignola, Hellboy, caught between the worlds of the supernatural and human, battles an ancient sorceress bent on revenge.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
DC Fanboy! Superman is the greatest comic book character of all time. Favorite movies are Man of Steel, Goonies, Back To the Future
