On Thursday, I had the opportunity to attend the opening night of Hellboy (2019). I was a bit surprised there were showings as early as 7:30. It was a spur of the moment decision. I have joined the new AMC A-List program so for roughly $22 a month, I can go to three movies a week. So I went for it. What follows below is my review, I avoid most plot points but as it is a review...
SPOILER ALERT
I loved the earlier two films, Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II The Golden Army (2008). Guillermo De Toro, Ron Perlman, Doug Jones, Selma Blair did an enjoyable and engaging job. It was classic superhero fare with action and comedy and evil villains. I saw both in the theater and owned them on DVD. Which is a thing we did back then.
They were my first introduction to the characters and prompted me to eventually dip my toe into the graphic novel collections of Mike Mignola. For years there were rumors that Del Toro had a third film in mind. Perlman was on board and so seemingly was the studio. The movie however never seemed to materialize. Though in my personal opinion I hazard to guess that Del Toro's original ideas and creative impulses for Hellboy 3 morphed over time to the The Shape of Water. Which felt like an Abe Sapien spin off Elseworlds love story to me. But I digress.
The two Perlman/Del Toro movies fared relatively well but one criticism that I heard from fans at the time was that they went too far making it a superhero movie and watered down some of the more horror like elements of the story. I mean we are dealing with Nazis, Devils and Demons here, so there is going to be some gory elements.
One thing that the 2019 version of Hellboy made sure to do was up the gore level for sure. Having seen both Hellboy and Shazam (review coming soon) on back to back days, you can certainly see the difference from PG-13 and R. As someone who still suffers from night terrors from movies I saw 30 years ago, had I realized the R rating, I might have skipped it. Most of the violence done by the "bad guys" was quite martial, limbs, heads, bodies ripped apart. Hellboy took some pretty graphic damage at times as well. Most of it was story related but there was one long segment near the climax that felt like it was a bit torture porn. The CGI folks definitely had some fun with the graphic nature of some moments.
Outside of the gore the two biggest differences between the 2019 version and the 2004 or 2008 versions of Hellboy related to the relationship between the titular character and his adopted father, Professor Broom. In the Del Toro versions, the character of Broom was supporting but not really truly a driver of the narrative. John Hurt, a Hollywood icon played Broom in the earlier incarnations and was his as always viable and engaging self. Broom was important for sure, but the story was more about Hellboy and his journey and finding himself, his place in the world. Perlman plays Hellboy as more stable and adult. He seems less a wild card and more a rogue. He might break the rules but he does so knowingly. Hellboy in this case may be troubled, he may break rules but he also seems more in control.
In the 2019 version, directed by Neil Marshall takes a different tone with the Hellboy/Broom relationship. As a viewer I should admit that I saw each of these versions of the Broom character at very different times in my life. First as soon to be minted father, then as a young, confused and failing father. In 2019, I saw Broom as the father of one teenager and one soon to be teenager. So those perceptions definitely color my review as well.
Ian Mcshane plays Broom in this newest version of Hellboy. And as ever brings a level of depth to a character that viewers were probably not expecting. The relationship between McShane's Broom and David Harbour's Hellboy is full of strife and conflict throughout the entire film. Where as Hurt and Perlman seemed to be occasionally annoyed. There is palatable distrust of Broom by Hellboy in this new version.
As the 2019 version of the film worked to create more gore in the action scenes, the script also seemed designed to show Hellboy's humanity. His doubts and ultimately set up the climax with more doubt than you expect from a super hero ending. Harbour does an exceptional job of showing Hellboy's emotional side, with more angst than arrogance. Perhaps it was all that time working with teenagers on Stranger Things but Harbour feels more Spiderman than Tony Stark. From Harbour's first appearance in the movie in an epic action scene in Tijuana to his first meeting and big brother/uncle relationship with Sasha Lane's Alice (who is thoroughly enjoyable as support and a lovely surprise as a character), there is humanity and a bit of chaos and a fumbling nature. Hellboy's interaction and reaction to the first death he causes sets the tone for the entire movie. This may be a being born of a demon but there is something human there as well.
McShane and Harbour's relationship drives the movie. But Jovonich's evil blood queen plays an excellent foil. As a lover of The Fifth Element it was unnerving to see the supreme being as a villain. However, instead of chewing the dialogue and going full evil witch, there is a gentleness and purity of belief in her actions and attitude. If you are a person who could understand Thanos' rantionale or could argue that the Rebels in Star Wars were simply terrorists, then you might also fall under her spell. She sets herself up as a counter point to McShane's Broom. And that is the crux of the internal battle for Harbour's Hellboy. And in the end it is the backbone of the movie and in my opinion, that, not the gore is what truly shines.
Daniel Dae Kim does an nice job of adding a bit more flavor to the conflict, even if his eventual "big decision" feels like overkill. By that point, the audience knows what side he is on and there is little tension in his actions, even though it is played as a big moment. The voice work of Stephen Graham was excellent and had me dying to figure out where I knew his voice from. I'll let it be a surprise for you as well. But after looking at his history, I had to slap myself for never putting two and two together when I saw him in two other very famous movies. I would love a career like his, part of so many fun moments and movies but you wouldn't recognize him in line at the bathroom. There is even an appearance from Thomas Haden Church, which took me way too long to recognize. It ranks up there with the geeky joy of realizing who was the voice of Noir Spiderman in Into the Spiderverse. Again, I'll save the surprise if you haven't seen it.
Hellboy 2019 to me was an enjoyable film. Though I do worry that by going for an R rating and adding in the gore they may have shot themselves in the foot. Harbour and Hellboy don't have the built-in fandom of Reynolds and Deadpool and I think that will hurt them in the box office. In the end that will be the true judge, how much money the film makes. However, in my eyes, the ability to create doubt, to give Harbour and McShane and Jonovich the space to create a possible moral and ethical quandary is the real success of the film.
I don't do stars but would watch again. Probably buy the DVD and try to talk about the interpersonal dynamics with my children in the fall.
