Back in 2004, Guillermo Del Toro created a visionary film about Hellboy and followed it up with a pretty damn good sequel in 2008.
So why do we need this new, hugely expensive reboot of HELLBOY?
I guess when Spiderman gets rebooted every 5 years, it was our favorite demon's turn, eh?
Director Neil Marshall is no del Toro. At the helm of his first feature film, Marshall lets the special effects take center stage over story and character.
David Harbour (Revolutionary Road) isn't bad as the son of a fallen angel, wielding massive hammer hands and lethal wit in equal, deep red measure. Harbour is funny and occasionally even manages to be vulnerable, which isn't easy under this much CGI.
Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element) is evil sorceress The Blood Queen, attempting to unite with Hellboy to suck the entire universe into the pits of Hell, or some such calamity that would ruin your entire week.
Ian McShane (John Wick, Deadwood) is a lot of fun as Hellboy's adopted Dad. Talk about family issues.
The best parts of the story manage to draw in pieces of the King Arthur legend and Merlin's bride as part of the story. It gives the story welcome gravitas for a few moments before it slips into yet another CGI battle between us and the netherworld.
del Toro infused his Hellboy films with so much fantasy, creative set design and flair that you were transported into another world.
This update just beats you over the head with $50 million worth of computer generated effects that left me numb by the end.
It's not without it's pleasures. Harbour's comic delivery and sarcasm is on point, Daniel Dae Kim (Lost) is a blast as Major Ben Daimio and Brian Gleeson (Phantom Thread) is terrific as Merlin.
It's gory as hell and the violence is manic, over-the-top video game/Tarantino style. It's much darker than del Toro's films, and I'm not opposed to that approach, if it's delivered well.
The "Deadpool" films proved you can deliver R-rated superhero films that pop.
Unfortunately, this new HELLBOY barely crackles. It's just fast and fun enough to earn a C+. With only $21 million at the box office, it looks like the future of the series went straight to hell.
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