The UnPopular Opinion: Hellboy (2019)

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

THE UNPOPULAR OPINION is an ongoing column featuring different takes on films that either the writer HATED, but that the majority of film fans LOVED, or that the writer LOVED, but that most others LOATHED. We're hoping this column will promote constructive and geek fueled discussion. Enjoy!
****SOME SPOILERS ENSUE****

Everything old is new again. Fifteen years after Ron Perlman and Guillermo Del Toro brought Mike Mignola's cult comic to the big screen, Neill Marshall rebooted the duology for a new franchise that bombed right out of the gate. While Del Toro and Perlman long held out hope for a third chapter in their series about the supernatural government agency and their devlish secret weapon, it was never meant to be. What we instead got was an R-rated remake that gave us another look at the origin of the titular HELLBOY amidst more profanity and gore. Audiences and critics did not warm up to this new HELLBOY despite the fact that it is a fun yet flawed comic book movie with more than enough action and laughs to appease general audiences and die hard fans.

In 2014, Guillermo Del Toro and Ron Perlman departed the developing third HELLBOY film. Del Toro was offered a producer credit on the project when he refused to helm the film based on the screenplay being written by Mike Mignola and Andrew Cosby. For years, fans (and Ron Perlman) held out hope that an agreement could be made to make HELLBOY III happen, but in 2017 the reboot was announced. Series creator Mike Mignola's script was eventually rewritten repeatedly and the new HELLBOY was born. Starting with the subtitle RISE OF THE BLOOD QUEEN, the new HELLBOY had it's fair share of controversy, especially with Ed Skrein initially cast as the Asian character Ben Daimio, a role that eventually was recast with Daniel Dae Kim. But, with David Harbour cast in the lead and Ian McShane taking over as Professor Broom, this new HELLBOY had promise.

Grossing an abyssmal $44 million globally against a $50 million budget, odds are that we will never see another HELLBOY movie, at least not in this rebooted franchise. And that is a shame because despite some story issues and some editing trouble, the 2019 version of HELLBOY is a good deal of fun with some nicely executed special effects. The creature designs are all cool even if they are not exactly the same style as Guillermo Del Toro's aesthetic. Plus the casting here is so good that we will all be left to wonder just what HELLBOY 2 could have been. While Milla Jovovich has been quick to defend the film, David Harbour himself has been critical of the fact that this HELLBOY failed due to the expectations from fans of the 2004 version and it's sequel rather than those willing to give this flick a chance.

To be fair, this HELLBOY is the weakest of the three live action movies based on the comic book but it is far from the debacle that you may have been led to believe from word of mouth and critics. Where Del Toro's films were true to the comic book source material, they deviated in ways that made the tales work for the filmmaker's style. References to labyrinths, Catholicism, and homages to Ray Harryhausen were incorporated as were changes to character origins and connections between the heroes and villains. The new HELLBOY is far more faithful to the comic books with multiple comic arcs combined. While this kitchen sink approach is very transparent on screen, the fact that this HELLBOY is much more closely aligned to the comics makes this film more representative of the character than Guillermo Del Toro's films.

What Neill Marshall's film does is try to play in the same realm as DEADPOOL and the Marvel Cinematic Universe by creating a franchise-starter. Guillermo Del Toro's movie built a universe but it was to service the story rather than the studio. This HELLBOY is designed in the era of tentpoles and blockbusters. It feels constructed rather than natural but that is okay because it has fun with it. Milla Jovovich, who has long been cast in heroic roles in franchises like RESIDENT EVIL and the upcoming MONSTER HUNTER, is a deliciously decadent nemesis for David Harbour's Hellboy. She is bad and she doesn't shy away from the more overt supernatural elements of the story. She also is a nice balance to Harbour's sarcastic antihero. It is very hard to not compare Harbour's performance to that of Ron Perlman but that character was customized and written specifically for him by Del Toro. Harbour rather channels his interpretation of the comic book character while including his own comedic timing. I am a big David Harbour fan and it was clearly a disservice to his talents for people to write this performance off as not being as good as Perlman. Both Hellboys work in their own ways.

What works well in HELLBOY are the special effects. While I will always champion tangible make-up and practical FX over CGI, this movie does a great job with a budget that pales compared to some major studio productions and yet the results are fun, wacky, and sometimes scary. Baba Yaga is a gross creation that would have made Del Toro proud and the abundance of blood, as computer generated as it may be, just cranks up the insanity meter for this flick. It can sometimes detract from the dramatic moments of the movie because the centerpiece action sequences drive this movie into cheesy territory, but overall it works if you aren't looking for this to be an allegory. This is a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously, so we are audiences?

HELLBOY is not the film that fans wanted, but that doesn't mean that we should pass judgement over how much enjoyment we can garner from it. When compared to Guillermo Del Toro and Ron Perlman's films, the 2019 HELLBOY is nowhere close to the same level. But, that is also like comparing Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT to Todd Phillips' JOKER; both films feature different takes on the same character but do is in wholly different ways. Taken on their own merits, there are things to be enjoyed in both iterations of HELLBOY. For the Marshall and Harbour version, the movie is meant to be a straightforward roller coaster of dumb fun replete with monsters, f-bombs and gory violence. If you take the movie as that and try to view it as it's own creation, this HELLBOY is a lot of fun and one that you should absolutely give a chance if you skipped it.