Hellboy Reboot
The 2019 Hellboy Reboot Is Hot.. But Half-Baked
Hellboy is back for 2019’s reboot. But is it half baked? Read on to find out. This time Hellboy emerges from the countryside of Scotland where he is told to battle the Blood Queen Nimue (Milla Jovovich) who is an ancient witch aiming to revenge a past betrayal. As one character says “Somewhere out there there’s a 5th century sorceress who wants to bring down the curtain on London and the world.” Hellboy responds with his characteristic understated humour: “Great, homework!”
So it’s game on for the modern Hellboy to save the earth from annihilation by ancient magic.
Hellboy 2019 is a superhero action film based on the Dark Horse Comics. The feature film is directed by Neil Marshall and stars David Harbour as the lead character. Alongside him, the movie stars great names, such as Milla Jovovich and Ian McShane. The movie is the third one in this franchise and a retake of the original Hellboy film series.
The movie was released into theatres in the United States on 12 April 2019. Although harshly criticized for an idiotic plot with too many apocalyptic fears, worn out clichés and stereotypical story problems, David Harbour rescues the film because he excels once again in his own version of the supernatural character.
The dark world adventure calls half-demon Hellboy to fight against the powers of evil- and who can resist getting caught up in the action! With his sharpened sword, glowing horns, and his epic iron-fist, he is sent off on an apocalyptic mission: He has to stop the sorceress Nimue, the monster Gruagach and many other mystical beings who want to destroy the earth and every living creature on it.
The backstory of Hellboy’s origins is that he was originally created as a hellish demon with a mission to destroy the earth but was interrupted and transformed into an ironic super-hero now enlisted to protect human civilisation. Sent onto a mission by Broom to England, Nimue cuts a trail of devastation through England. Now Hellboy and his teammates Anna (Sasha Lane) and Ben (Daniel Dae Kim) are not only confronted with an army of darkness, but also with their own demons.
The plot hinges on the evil witch Nimue’s plan not only to destroy the world, but to tempt Hellboy to help her! She even tries to reason with him: “Why do you fight for those who hate and fear you? You were meant for this. Out of the ashes, a new Eden will emerge.” This clever play on identity, purpose, and power is the crux of the film and drives the plot and character tension to its satisfying conclusion.
In the final analysis, this movie has some strengths like David Harbour’s credible acting which adds tons of conviction and gumption to the role of Hellboy - but this is a role that needs every ounce of it. On the weak side, the film lacks the coherence and execution that would make it truly memorable. There is just too much going on in the plot, so in the end, it doesn’t stick together and the film unravels into a series of gratuitous CGI-effects and fantasy battle scenes. For die-hard Hellboy fans, this film has its moments worth savouring, but for the rest of us, it’s more like visual fodder- unsatisfying, bland and ultimately, unfulfilling. So although Hellboy 2019 is luke warm and has its moments, it’s ultimately only half-baked.
Submit your review | |
This all hurtles at a relentless, unforgiving pace, glued together with many, many crunchy guitar licks. You don't so much as watch this movie as submit to being pummeled by it.
It ends up simply being a franchise reboot damned to be restaged as its own bloody hell. Some things are better left dead.
Marshall’s Hellboy is a horrifyingly good time. It captures the breathless quality of reading 30 issues of a single comic-book series in one sugar-addled afternoon, shoving as many amazing characters and storylines and images into one film as it can possibly hold. It could have seemed overstuffed and frenetic, but this new “Hellboy” instead comes across as imaginative and freewheeling.
Exuberantly gross and proudly ridiculous, this Hellboy feels like the picture Glenn Danzig sees in his head when he doodles in his notebook.
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.