Quick Reviews: Hellboy (2019)

Let's keep the unintended Superhero Theme going with another one from this year.  This Reboot made people mad at it sheer existence, but is that warranted?  Let's see...

This is Hellboy.

The Film assumes that you know all of this, thanks to the other Films.  To be fair, both of those Films grossed less than Shazam *combined*, so maybe that was a bad call.

Things are the same, but also a bit different.

We've jumped right to 'everybody treats Hellboy like a Monster' and his 'Dad' is less friendly this time.

Hellboy still fights Monsters, but the Plot throws WAY more at him this time.

It's almost like combining parts of five different Hellboy Comics into one Film is too much.

The main villain is an evil Witch who wants to conquer the World.  Guess who she wants as her King?

Sad Fact: nearly all of the Resident Evil Films out-grossed the Hellboy ones- by alot!

Will Hellboy succumb to temptation and become the evil King of the World?

Or will he fight evil with both barrels and save the day?

To find out, watch the Film.  It's now on Digital and DVD/Blu-Ray, so there's still hope of making a profit!

A rare thing- a Movie with too much Plot.  As noted, the Film is based on more than 4 different Hellboy tales.  Granted- they pick and choose parts from some.  The Wild Hunt, for instance, is used for a small part.  Even so, the Movie is two hours long and could have used some trimming.  For instance, the main Henchman has a backstory with Hellboy, which requires a Flashback to show.  Yes, said Flashback does tangentially-relate to another Character, but is it still necessary?  On top of that, I liked the Baba Yaga stuff...but it's also pretty unnecessary.  Is there no such thing as Deleted Scenes for Neil Marshall?  The Movie has a weird start-stop feel that makes it not go smoothly.  That said, the Movie looks nice and I'm glad to see CGI used as an enhancement to Practical Effects.  What a concept!  The Movie has a pretty good sense of humor and definitely leans into the R-Rating.  That said, they have TWO Scenes of Hellboy arriving to a building full of dead people.  In other words, an excuse to show more dead bodies, but NOT an Action Scene.  That's a bit excessive, no?  Without going into SPOILERS, the fact that the story connects to King Arthur so much is...odd.  Some may love it, but some may hate it.  Hellboy is a case of too much content, too many cooks (lots of strife on-set between Producers and the Director) and a bit too much excess.  I think it will seem better as time goes on, but it was definitely not *quite* good enough to jump-start a new Series.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I have guests coming for Dinner...

With a good Editor, there's a genuinely-good Movie to be had.  As it is, it is too much of everything.