Welcome back to Sound Off!, a semi-regular column where members of Speculative Chic gather together to chat about the latest BIG THING in entertainment. This time, gather your family and discuss Hellboy (2019), which premiered in the United States on Friday, April 12, 2019.
Sound Off! is meant to be a reaction, but not necessarily a review. After all, while we are all individuals, even mutual love of something (or hate) can come from different places: you may find everything from critique to fangirling to maybe even hate-watching.
Now, join Nicole Taft as she talks about Hellboy! [Note: Spoiler-free!]
Nicole: When I first heard that David Harbour was going to be the next Hellboy, I was already on board. I’d enjoyed the previous two films featuring Ron Perlman, so I was more than happy to try jumping on this particular train to see where it went.
Initially I thought that this wasn’t going to be an origin story, given how we weren’t introduced to Hellboy’s beginnings the way we were in the 2004 film. I thought it was going to be more like the recent Spider-Man films–we all know where Spider-Man came from at this point, let’s just dive into the story without the formalities, yes? However, we still ended up with a flashback to that particular Nazi-Rasputin occult island summoning thing, even showing Rasputin’s girlfriend and face-masked Kroenen. The flashback was brief so I assume it was just a quick dump to those not in the know and a nod to those particular characters since they never come back, yet at the same time, the story is again focusing on Hellboy and his coming to terms with who he is and who he’s meant to be.
In fact, there are a surprising number of flashbacks, most of which are used to show us where other characters came from, such as Hellboy’s random friend Alice (how that friendship developed I’ll never know), bad guy Gruagach, and new sort-of-partner guy Ben, who starts off hating on Hellboy before deciding all is well (though we never really see this particular line truly develop–it just…happens). It doesn’t help in the way the story is put together, making the whole thing feel jumbled or split. Like there are too many things branching off and none of them are really important enough to be there in the first place. It’s not super hard to handle–just awkward.
My main gripe is partly because I guess I’m old-school, but even so, I could have done without so much CGI. Practical effects are so much better when done right (why do you think Jurassic Park has held up so well?) and when in conjunction with CGI. And I’m not talking creature work either–I’m talking the amount of blood and gore. At times during the movie I kept trying to figure out whether the filmmakers were trying to be serious with the amount of blood and guts appearing on screen or if they were just putting it in there because reasons. I’m not opposed to gore, and when people are getting attacked by demons and such, it’s kind of expected. I finally figured out what bothered me–this was video game gore. The kind you might see in a Resident Evil game or Outlast. It’s not scary or effective, really. It’s more like grotesque eye candy–you watch and go, “Oh, gross!” but you’re not truly horrified. Though I will admit at times even with some of the practical gore I couldn’t help but think, “Okay, we get it, you can chill out with it now.”
The film itself overall is a fun time, which is basically what we got from the first two Hellboy films. David Harbour is an excellent choice, and yes, I would pay money to see him put on all that makeup (cripes, I can only imagine how long it took him!) a second time. It’s not the best it could be, but I’m okay with it, and feel like it might be one of those movies that grows on me more over time. I will grant that some of the demon designs were pretty damned cool.
No Comments