Hellboy (2019) movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Hellboy

RATING: R

LENGTH: 2 hours

Movie Review Mom GRADE: D-

IN A NUTSHELL: This is not a sequel, but a disappointing reboot. I loved the first two Hellboy movies in the franchise, so I was curious what this new R-rated version would be like. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have the charm or heart of the Ron Pearlman and Guillermo del Toro movies, but what replaces it is a lot more blood and super gory violence. The original title of the movie was going to be Hellboy: The Blood Queen” which would have described this movie well. Even better would have been “Hellboy: Bloody As Hell.” Many moments, it’s just gross.

According to the writer Mike Mignola this entry in the franchise intentionally downplays the superhero aspect in order to preserve the darker tone of the graphic novels and stay true to the source material. Mission accomplished.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

- This REALLY is a Rated R movie and NOT appropriate for kids.
- Hyper-violence and mostly just for the sake of being violent.
- Profanity and lots of F-bombs, including the very first sentence of the movie.
- Some Spanish spoken with subtitles
- This is much scarier than either of the PG-13 Hellboy.
- If your kids are interested in this character, Hellboy II: The Golden Army is, by far, the best Hellboy movie out of the three made.

THEMES:

You decide who you are.
Good vs. Evil
Humanity

THINGS I LIKED:

In case you haven’t seen either of the first two Hellboy movies, you’ll get an expository scene to explain it about mid-way through the film.
Milla Jovovich looked beautiful and frightening. She was really fantastic.
Some humor and lighthearted lines, although I think I only laughed twice.
In order to maintain the Asian heritage of the character Major Ben Daimio, Ed Skrein stepped away from the role to allow Daniel Dae Kim to be cast. Impressive.
LOTS of action.
Some great special effects, but also some bad CGI.
David Harbour from Stranger Things did a great job as the newly imagined Hellboy.
I would have liked to see more of the pig character. He disappeared really quickly from the story.
The flame crown looked cool and it was fun to see Hellboy with horns. He really did look like he came from hell, unlike the loveable Ron Pearlman version.
There are two after-credit scenes.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Hellboy is scarier and less endearing than in the first two movies. If you are a fan of the graphic novels, you might like this; otherwise, it is way over-the-top and disgusting. He whines and acts like a kid most of the time, making him unlikeable.
There were way too many side stories that required expository scenes.
Tons of dark scenes, which will make it hard to watch this movie on a computer monitor or small T once it comes out on streaming.
Random rock music that doesn’t carry a meaningful message to match the scene.
The moral dilemma had a much greater impact in the Guillermo del Toro movies.
Director Neil Marshall seemed to put too much in this film that it just became too messy and annoying.
There are too many characters we don’t care about.

FUNNY LINES: