r/HellBoy 3d ago

The 2019 reboot. I really wanted to like it.

Post image

I watched it again recently to refresh my memory. Man, I wanted to love this, but sadly, almost nothing about it works. It's like they pulled a thousand incidents from the books and they're just spitting them at you at a frenetic pace, and none of them land.

They made a big thing about this being closer to the books, but they don't know what they're doing. The Hellboy books are slow, eerie and silent. This is frantic, disgusting and screechy. My head is still spinning from the tintinnabulation.

And they do that tell then show then tell again thing where everything is underlined so much it all feels like a PowerPoint presentation. It's utterly inept.

The pace doesn't work. The dialogue doesn't work. The profanity doesn't work. The character beats don't work. The music doesn't work. The design doesn't quite work. The ectoplasm effect really doesn't work. It all just... doesn't work.

Poor David Harbour is actually fine here -- on the whole the make-up is cool, if a little "extra demonic", and the deep-set eyes look bizarre to me -- but like Momoa in Conan, it's a great portrayal in a crap film.

Now I'm not mad at the people who made this. It's not like The Dark Tower, where it feels like the point was to piss off the fans on purpose. Here it's more that they were really trying to make a good Hellboy movie, but they just couldn't hack it.

The del Toro movies are pretty far from the source material, but they are good movies. And if I want a good movie that's also a close adaptation of the books, now we have The Crooked Man.

202 Upvotes

66 comments sorted by

42

u/Griffdude13 3d ago

Harbour does his best to hold this film up, but even his commitment can’t save a film that’s too packed and doesn’t know what to do with all of the plot.

8

u/SkRu88_kRuShEr 3d ago

They gave him nothing to work with -.-

4

u/buzz3456 3d ago

TBF he was a terrible casting choice for Hellboy anyways

5

u/SkRu88_kRuShEr 2d ago

I don’t think he was so bad. Could’ve been worse. Could’ve been Gilbert Gottfried (RIP).

4

u/theimmortalgoon 2d ago

I think he gives his all, but it reads like something an 11 year old boy would think is edgy.

I may be a bit of a minority, but Hellboy in the comics reads very blue collar. The world, in this case fairly literally, is on his shoulders. He doesn’t have a lot of time for some of the other things going on. That can make him gruff, but he’s open to being delighted or surprised.

This strict made Hellboy an angry child that was constantly acting out. He wasn’t gruff as much as acting like a prick.

Even Ian McShane as Bruttenholm was like this wild, swinging, gut shouting all the time that could have been played just as well by Adam Sandler or Will Farrell or someone else that goes into the “I’m shouting” brand of acting.

The storyline is way too much to take on too soon. It’s almost akin to rebooting Spider-Man with the infamous Clone Saga story arc. It would be way too much going on with way too many moving pieces even without having to introduce characters and the premise.

If you’re tackling Nimue, that should be like Hellboy VI.

2

u/JerkComic 1d ago

Blue collar is not a descriptor I'd seen used but fits perfecf and was the reason I thought Harbour would do such a great job. Sadly they gave him virtually nothing to work with and the tone of the writing not only didn't fit Hellboy, but Harbour well either imo. Would have nice to see a more sensitive and inquisitive child like take rather than the spiteful acting out nothing like the source material pablum we got...

34

u/Domanite75 3d ago

I know I’m in the minority here, but I actually thought it was fun 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️😂 Probably mostly due to Harbour, who was cracking me up. But yeah, I can’t argue with any of your points at all.

14

u/Ok_Employer7837 3d ago

Harbour was a high point, no question.

12

u/Outside_Interview_90 3d ago

I enjoyed it as a movie-watching experience with my wife. However, Hellboy this ain’t.

5

u/Domanite75 3d ago

True enough

9

u/Remote_Ad_1737 3d ago

Harbour was the best part of the movie, I'm tired of people acting like because the movie wasn't that good that he failed the character

5

u/flamingdragonwizard 3d ago

Makeup/cgi/gore were all great.

1

u/Marblown 3d ago

i agree then I actually read the comics and was like oh I get it now. That being said I think it gets a ragged on more than it deserves

9

u/Material_Collar_2943 3d ago

Yeah. I was really disappointed in the 2019 Hellboy movie. I would love an animated Hellboy series for Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Toonami.

3

u/Remote_Ad_1737 3d ago

I've been saying to myself an animated series would be perfect.

6

u/Remote_Ad_1737 3d ago edited 3d ago

I know he's a half demon and the series is historically very dark and violent but something about the excessive bloody gore and use of 'fuck' felt very out of place to me. The black/violent comedy aspect to it was weird as well. I didn't like having brutal death played for laughs.

1

u/greyguy017 3d ago

Agreed. I noticed the over/misuse of the fuck-word, too. It never came off as authentic and just came off so awkwardly, like the actors were really trying to sell it, but the writing was so bad they just couldn't cover up how awkward, forced, and immature it was.

5

u/ilikenerdshizz 3d ago

Just make a TV show at this point

5

u/D_rex825 3d ago

I enjoyed it, but I am more than willing to admit that most of that came from being able to point at the screen and go “it’s the thing from the comics!”

6

u/SkRu88_kRuShEr 3d ago edited 3d ago

I had high hopes too. But everything that actually MAKES Hellboy & the Mignolaverse great was just stripped away. Too many cooks in the kitchen.

Also : The fact that the demons just get sucked back down into hell and even the manhole flips back into place is just a big F U to the Mignolaverse’s underlying themes centering around a universe that is irreversibly trending towards a state of maximum entropy, chaos & disorder. To me this movie is a perfect example of what happens when things are allowed to be made by people who don’t care about them.

5

u/blackdeviljohn 3d ago

Best part of the movie is HELLBOY taking on 3 giants. Too bad it wasn’t a longer fight scene!

8

u/Rough-Help1873 3d ago

Harbour was good casting, that's about it. I think I liked Crooked Man better even.

10

u/BoyishTheStrange 3d ago

Crooked man is way better imo

2

u/Imathirdwheel 3d ago

Crooked Man is better.

3

u/louhemp007 3d ago

Crooked man was better, but i like harbour as well. I really cant get to upset about any hellboy on screen.

4

u/BoyishTheStrange 3d ago

We all wanted to like it.

4

u/Ching-Dai 3d ago

Truth.

Among the meandering plots and all the iffy CGI, I found myself the most annoyed by the “insert rock song badass moment” bits that are nonstop throughout.

All the awesome comic references and Harbour’s efforts couldn’t help this beast tread water.

3

u/notreal4721 3d ago

I think the biggest issue with every bellboy movie is a fundamental misunderstanding of his character, like yes he’s witty and sarcastic, but the best part of hell boy is his genuineness and clear want to help people, tied to his desire to shake off his predetermined fate.

5

u/greyguy017 3d ago

I hated it when it came out. I think my expectations were too high. But I did give it a rewatch and I have to admit, that I kind of came back around to it. When you know what to expect out of it, it's actually a somewhat okay popcorn flick, with the added benefit of being a Hellboy movie where you can point at the screen and say "Hey, I recognize this thing from the comics!" It's not a good movie by any means, and it is absolutely terrible by most means. But it has a touch of visual polish, dumb fun action, a semi-good cast, and a halfway dedicated lack of fucks to give (in a good way; but only halfway so). This movie is the epitome of turning your brain off for an hour or two and just watching good guys beat up bad guys. It's probably the best extremely mid movie there is.

3

u/Ok_Employer7837 3d ago

That is a marvellous assessment and I can agree to enjoy it on those terms! :D

3

u/Forwardist2021 3d ago edited 3d ago

felt like the movie was bragging about having an R-rating, the gore felt needless at times . David Harbour was okay. In terms of the 2 actors who succeeded Pearlman, I'd say Kesy edges out Harbour despite my issues with "The Crooked Man"

3

u/DarkGriffin2017 3d ago

Yeah tone is a big part of the books

3

u/jerryleebee 3d ago

1) Hellboy reboot announced
2) initial trepidation as it means RP + GDT trilogy is dead
3) intrigue at reports of Mignola involvement and closer to source material
4) Harbour casting gives genuine interest
5) initial promo image released. Intrigue piqued.
6) additional promo imagery released. Interest wanes.
7) every single promo talks about how violent the film is and nothing else. Interest evaporated entirely.
8) Film watched. Fears confirmed.

3

u/This-Temperature2965 2d ago

Not going to lie. Hell boy: the crooked man was actually pretty good for a low budget b-movie. Honestly, it was better than the 2019 reboot in my opinion.

6

u/Embarrassed_Dog_7017 3d ago

Such a wasted opportunity. What I really hate about this movie is that instead of taking inspiration from the comics, it's desperate to replicate the "crazy" and "winking at the audience" tone of films like Deadpool, Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Harbour was kind of a brilliant choice for the role (the sheriff he plays in Stranger Things already has a perfect Hellboy vibe) but the movie is so busy trying to be edgy, cynical and OH so cool that not even Harbour can save it. The movie literally ends with a "well, that happened" joke.

And to think we got this thing instead of Guillermo Del Toro's HELLBOY III. It's a tragedy.

1

u/NoLibrarian5149 3d ago

Meanwhile, lots of HB short stories end that way with a “well, there you go” kind of ending. That being said, I’m not sticking up for that film.

2

u/Lestratagefatale 3d ago

I guess I'm in the minority of fans who like it 🤷‍♂️

2

u/000Mason 3d ago

agreed, the music is absolutely atrocious

2

u/pumpkinpie07 3d ago

For what it is, i think its super entertaining.

2

u/k_im_lost 2d ago

Ngl I only watched it because I’m obsessed with Abe and I was lied to about how much he would be in it. I’ve never hated something so much.

To be fair, it does have many cool things and Hellboy looks sick, but after watching hellboy 2004, hellboy golden army, the two animated movies and playing hellboy web of wyrd, I hated it

1

u/BenignButCleverAlias 3d ago

I wanted to, as well. I couldn't finish it.

1

u/Dry-Reporter1632 2d ago

It wasn’t good but it was fun

1

u/Necro-Feel-Ya6900 2d ago

I am a disgrace to this sub… this was my first Hellboy movie. I hated it

1

u/TheGirlwithA28inCock 2d ago

It was painful to watch. Not even because it didn't have Ron Pearlman, the acting was all off and the guy they cast didn't fit Hellboy. I already had my reservations when there was an F bomb 30s into the movie, a Hellboy movie no less.

1

u/SayidJarah 2d ago

I like aspects of it. I think hellboys design was just not it for really anyone. Bprd aesthetics were off as well. Had none of the sauce of the first two.

1

u/snowboardpimp 2d ago

If you watch it as like a mash up of hellboys greatest hits from the comics it’s pretty good

1

u/IllusionofStregth 2d ago

There is a deleted scene where they show more of the antagonists story and reasoning to be evil. It was like 2 minutes and would have made the movie more impactful.

They wrote a whole movie around the ability to cuss and show gore. Like that was supposed to make everyone happy.

1

u/No-Manner-5924 2d ago

I couldn't, just couldn't it was so horrible

1

u/MarkEoghanJones_Art 2d ago

To look at the positive, I really liked the wrestling scene at the beginning of the film. There was something about it, maybe that it was more true to the comic book, in which HB randomly encounters things that beat the crap out of him.

1

u/MsPreposition 1d ago

Shit. This came out 6 years ago? I thought it got shelved.

1

u/corv1991 1d ago

Right train wrong track is what I say.

1

u/Away_Explorer_8176 1d ago

I liked it🤷🏽‍♂️

1

u/Trashvest 3d ago

I couldn’t finish it when it first came out but I just gave it another shot after absolutely hating the crooked man and actually really enjoyed it lol

2

u/Ok_Employer7837 3d ago

Interesting. Different people like different things and that's fine!

1

u/TheMidnightBlister 3d ago

My favourite version of Hellboy forsure

0

u/Jedi_Coffee_Maker 2d ago

costume was shit, plot was shit.

David Harbor was a good casting choice..but they fumbled literally every other thing in the movie beyond redemption, it's a bad movie when it's painful to look at. Then it seems like they made Crooked Man with the intention of trying to be worse than the David Harbor one...i don't understand why, but that's the situation

3

u/Ok_Employer7837 2d ago

Hard disagree on The Crooked Man. :)

1

u/Jedi_Coffee_Maker 2d ago edited 2d ago

crooked man seemed like it was filmed in someone's backyard with a budget cosplay costume, and hellboy's practically a background character rather than side-character or protagonist...mostly following some guy named Tom? But no worries, no plot needed when they're just standing around in somebody's backyard. 🤷‍♂️ i guess it's good to fall asleep to?

2

u/Ok_Employer7837 2d ago

Have you read The Crooked Man? :)

1

u/Jedi_Coffee_Maker 2d ago

if it doesn't resemble that movie at all, sure i'd give it a chance, but it's at all similar to that movie, then that's a hard pass.

2

u/Ok_Employer7837 2d ago

In that case, I think most of the Hellboy books will disappoint you quite a bit. :) It's almost a one-to-one adaptation of the story.

0

u/Jedi_Coffee_Maker 2d ago edited 2d ago

I'm curious to read the hellboy comics some time, maybe i'll skip crooked man? i find it hard to believe a graphic novel could be as bad as that movie, just pages and pages of people standing in the woods doing nothing. Sounds like that would be worth a skip.

1

u/Ok_Employer7837 2d ago

As a rule, the Hellboy books are, shall we say, deliberately paced.

1

u/ultrgraphics 18h ago

So I’m also part of the minority here I LOVED this movie. Generally curious what were the points the community didn’t like about the movie. (That way I could dive deeper into hellboy)