Although the effort of the director and the talent of the actors, the movie lacks the charm of the Guillermo del Toro duology. The movie is way more faithful to the comics but it also tries to be faithful to the previous movies (which every reboot should try to be) but it just becomes a mess of attempts.
The CGI is overused- WHEN WILL STUDIOS LEARN!- and although the creatures design is very interesting, pretty much every character lacks the dept the old duology provided.
At the end of the day Hellboy(2019) is just another failed reboot that tries to be it's own thing while respecting the previous movies.
My rating?
5 out of 10, but I do agree with the 61% rating on rotten tomatoes because the movie isn't all crap, there's a charm to it but it's not enough to make you overlook it's flaws.
Just watch the Guillermo del Toro duology, it's a far superior franchise, and I would of loved to see the third movie if the studios didn't cancelled it.
If you are interested in the director Neill Marshall (which despite the failed attempt of rebooting Hellboy is a damn good director) go watch Dog Soldiers which is criminally underrated.
See you next time at the movies,
Ruben the Critic
1,408 Reviews
Terrible Writing, Weird Directing and Awful CGI
misho-2939520 April 2019
Watching this, it feels like a twelve-year-old wrote the screenplay by tacking together scenes that might look cool without giving any thought to what the dialog would sound like when spoken out loud by human beings. Ian McShane does his best to sound convincing, while some of the other actors don't seem to see the point in even doing that and it's hard to blame them. There are plot holes throughout and segments that make little-to-no sense and add nothing to the story, although would maybe look neat if the effects were any good. The whole thing generally feels like someone slapped together at least four or five stories and tried to turn them into a coherent whole, which wouldn't surprise me, although I don't know enough about the comics to say for certain.
I'm not sure where to place the blame for the awful pacing, but the movie is just unrelenting. There are times when things should wind down, but then it's just more noisy stuff happening. For example, at one point a character is in need of specialized medical attention and they find out it'll be a fairly-long and "treacherous" trek to get it. The character is then cured within 1-2 minutes of runtime, the trek portion being a few seconds of that, then we jump straight into some exposition, then we jump straight back to what we were doing before, presumably after a long and treacherous trek back that also happens instantaneously. To get an idea of how jarring this feels, imagine if Gandalf told Frodo about what it would take to destroy the ring and the next scene was at Mount Doom.
The direction is mostly just odd, and I have no idea if it's because the director couldn't figure out what was happening in the script or because someone was meddling with his work.
Finally, the CGI monsters look terrible. There are some impressive uses of practical effects, but the transitions between those and their CGI counterparts are blatant.
I'm not sure where to place the blame for the awful pacing, but the movie is just unrelenting. There are times when things should wind down, but then it's just more noisy stuff happening. For example, at one point a character is in need of specialized medical attention and they find out it'll be a fairly-long and "treacherous" trek to get it. The character is then cured within 1-2 minutes of runtime, the trek portion being a few seconds of that, then we jump straight into some exposition, then we jump straight back to what we were doing before, presumably after a long and treacherous trek back that also happens instantaneously. To get an idea of how jarring this feels, imagine if Gandalf told Frodo about what it would take to destroy the ring and the next scene was at Mount Doom.
The direction is mostly just odd, and I have no idea if it's because the director couldn't figure out what was happening in the script or because someone was meddling with his work.
Finally, the CGI monsters look terrible. There are some impressive uses of practical effects, but the transitions between those and their CGI counterparts are blatant.
Hell did not freeze over
kosmasp8 July 2019
Even though some critics thought it might. Now this had a bad standing from the beginning. And while the actors are quite nice and the R-rating was secured (something fan boys really wished for), it did not make nearly as much money as it was supposed to. Or rather as much as the producers and the studio hoped for overall.
And while this is layed out to warrant sequels, this probably won't happen. And it's almost a shame, because it isn't at all bad. The effects are good, the new Hellboy managed to stay afloat (which is quite an achievement if you think about the shoes he had to fill - or is it the horns?) - the story made sense too. But I guess there is a comic book fatigue to a degree. There are so many movies out there, that people pick and choose. Maybe there were other reasons too, but in the end it doesn't really matter ... speaking of endings: there is one mid credit scene and one after credit scene. So if you watch it, watch it proper
And while this is layed out to warrant sequels, this probably won't happen. And it's almost a shame, because it isn't at all bad. The effects are good, the new Hellboy managed to stay afloat (which is quite an achievement if you think about the shoes he had to fill - or is it the horns?) - the story made sense too. But I guess there is a comic book fatigue to a degree. There are so many movies out there, that people pick and choose. Maybe there were other reasons too, but in the end it doesn't really matter ... speaking of endings: there is one mid credit scene and one after credit scene. So if you watch it, watch it proper
I could not wait for this movie to be over.
markwilliamraymond22 April 2019
Story was rushed, very little character development, and the climax was disappointing. They should have funded a 3rd Guillermo del Toro movie instead. I try and give movies a chance, including this one, but the film was really bad. The only other movie I've ever wanted to leave early for was Dumb and Dumber To.
Had fun watching this
gus7611 April 2019
Currently being slammed by critics and sitting a very low score on rotten tomatoes, Hell Boy is a film I went into with zero expectations.
I just wanted something silly, entertaining and over the top, and the exactly what I got, and I must say, I enjoyed the..erm..hell out of it.
Directed by Neil Marshal, who has worked on Game of thrones and West World, this is not the Neil Marshall who gave us the horror masterpiece that is The Decent.
This is the Neil Marshal who gave us Dog Soldiers and Doomsday.
Silly, gory, surprising and does not give a **** about embracing it absurd concept to the full. David Harbor knocks it out of the park as Hellboy, and one thing he has over Ron Perlman's performance is a sense of threat; that he really could be evil of pushed too far.
The whole film moves at a fast pace and has a feel of a video game, but here it works, with a mix of Devil May Cry and God of War, especially in the combat and design of some creatures.
Maybe I was in a forgiving mood but the Bebop like villain Gruagach had me in stiches with his sweary mouth and English northern accent.
Go see it if you want some outrageous fantasy violence and a few laughs.
Damn my eyes!
neat-stuff12 April 2019
I don't consider myself an angry guy but if this is the new standard for blockbusters, Baba Yaga can have both my eyes because I will have no further use for them. There's nothing I can think of to defend this cinematographic abomination. This extremely ugly shot cosplay version of Mike Mignola's Hellboy comic does not even attempt to tell a coherent story. The soundtrack consists of some out of place rock songs that are stuck in random places in the film. Unlike Del Toro's films, there is no way of feeling any sympathy for the one-dimensional characters. The endless stream of silly one-liners and aimless quips make you realize that these annoyingly unpleasant characters have nothing to tell us over the course of two (!) excruciating hours. The movie simply jumps from exposition piece to action scene and back again. And where Guillermo Del Toro created a tactile world with a balanced combination of practical effects work and sparingly used CGI, we are now saddled with special effects that look like the deleted scenes from a Playstation 3 game. It's incomprehensible that Mignola believes that this soulless version is closer to the comics. I think the claim that the a fan of the source material would be at peace with this terrible movie is an insult.
Harbour has Hellboy Handled
zwarner-6437412 April 2019
Harbour does a great job in this film playing the anti-hero Hellboy. The script was not great and after reading reviews I thought it would be garbage. There are enough redeeming qualities to watch this movie in theaters. It has solid action sequences with plenty of gore. It's disappointing critics tore it apart. I give it a solid 7 it's entertaining just try not to take anything away from it and enjoy the ride.
Neither a complete disaster nor a triumph.
BA_Harrison23 August 2019
517 A.D.: King Arthur defeats the Blood Queen (Milla Jovovich) with the help of his trusty magical sword Excalibur, chopping her into pieces and burying her still-living body parts in the far reaches of the land. 1500 years later, changeling Gruagach (voiced by Stephen Graham) pieces the queen back together so that she can destroy mankind and rule the Earth with monsters as her loyal subjects. Hellboy (David Harbour) is given the job of preventing this from happening.
The majority of fans and critics gave this film hell on its release. So what did it do to deserve such damnation?
For many, the simple fact that it wasn't directed by Guillermo Del Toro and didn't star Ron Perlman was enough to demonise the movie, but even overlooking the change of director and leading man, there is still plenty to dislike: the creature-filled action scenes are over-reliant on unrealistic CGI; the comedy frequently mis-fires; Daniel Dae Kim and Sasha Lane are lousy as Hellboy's sidekicks; and the plot is rather scattershot. Oh, and there's a REALLY bad ectoplasmic Ian McShane.
Having said that, there is also quite a lot to enjoy: the R-Rating allows for plenty of graphic gore (although, sadly, much of it is also digital); there are some delightfully absurd moments (Hellboy's encounter with hideous witch Baba Yaga, who lives in a house on giant chicken legs, is excellent, and Eastenders fans will enjoy seeing Mo Harris brandishing a machine gun); the links to Arthurian legend are fun, and apparently make the film more faithful to the comics than Del Toro's movies; and director Neil Marshall occasionally shows us what he is really capable of (the single-shot fight scene in a Siberian complex at the end of the film is wonderful).
All in all, a very mixed bag of a movie: not the completely hellish experience that I had heard it was, but far from great.
The majority of fans and critics gave this film hell on its release. So what did it do to deserve such damnation?
For many, the simple fact that it wasn't directed by Guillermo Del Toro and didn't star Ron Perlman was enough to demonise the movie, but even overlooking the change of director and leading man, there is still plenty to dislike: the creature-filled action scenes are over-reliant on unrealistic CGI; the comedy frequently mis-fires; Daniel Dae Kim and Sasha Lane are lousy as Hellboy's sidekicks; and the plot is rather scattershot. Oh, and there's a REALLY bad ectoplasmic Ian McShane.
Having said that, there is also quite a lot to enjoy: the R-Rating allows for plenty of graphic gore (although, sadly, much of it is also digital); there are some delightfully absurd moments (Hellboy's encounter with hideous witch Baba Yaga, who lives in a house on giant chicken legs, is excellent, and Eastenders fans will enjoy seeing Mo Harris brandishing a machine gun); the links to Arthurian legend are fun, and apparently make the film more faithful to the comics than Del Toro's movies; and director Neil Marshall occasionally shows us what he is really capable of (the single-shot fight scene in a Siberian complex at the end of the film is wonderful).
All in all, a very mixed bag of a movie: not the completely hellish experience that I had heard it was, but far from great.
Love it, need more.
lantzstumpp12 April 2019
I strongly urge anyone that considers themselves a fan of #Hellboy, the comics, the characters and not just the #GuillermodelToro/#RonPerlman films, please go see this film. This is a very different take on these iconic characters and the world they inhabit and it is the most fun version that I've seen so far. Don't get me wrong, I loved GDT's films, the man crafts beautiful modern fairly tales and this film was smart no to try and replicate that. Instead, this movie has more in common with #SamRaimi's #ArmyOfDarkness, over the top violence and Gore, not for those with a weak stomach, and frequent profanity. #DavidHarbour does an excellent job and plays the role very differently than Perlman did and it has the potential to propel him from TV into a full time movie star. #IanMcShane brings his usual gravitas and presence to the role previously embodied by the late great #JohnHurt, again being smart to not emulate that performance and make this role entirely his own.
I feel like this movie is suffering from the same disconnect and out of touch effect that critics had with last year's #Venom. Critics almost universally panned that film while audiences similarly loved it. Every negative review I've read for this so far continually compares it unfavorably to the previous films and many also take issues with the excessive use of violence, Gore and adult language. What did you expect, this is an R Rated film and is thoroughly advertised as such.
I hope positive word of mouth from fans makes this successful as they set up some very cool stuff for a potential sequel.
If you love these characters like I do, if you love balls to the wall, over the top action horror, please see this film.
I feel like this movie is suffering from the same disconnect and out of touch effect that critics had with last year's #Venom. Critics almost universally panned that film while audiences similarly loved it. Every negative review I've read for this so far continually compares it unfavorably to the previous films and many also take issues with the excessive use of violence, Gore and adult language. What did you expect, this is an R Rated film and is thoroughly advertised as such.
I hope positive word of mouth from fans makes this successful as they set up some very cool stuff for a potential sequel.
If you love these characters like I do, if you love balls to the wall, over the top action horror, please see this film.
Pretty good... Could have been better but enjoyed
rahulsamanta-8893015 April 2019
David Harbour looks awesome as Hellboy. Can learn from the mistakes and be back with a bang in the sequel. Has potential. Glad to not have listened to the reviews and the critics... Hoping for a sequel and for the hellish red demon to be back
Not Even Good Actors Could Rescue Bad Directing
salamandermike12 April 2019
I loved the 2004 version with Ron Perlman. That production team nailed it. I was expecting they would reboot the franchise because they had some new ideas. Doesn't seem like that was their motivation. The 2019 version is a mess. The source material is SO rich, but they only skimmed the surface of it, focusing on broad ideas so much that I couldn't really care about any of the characters or even the fate of humanity. The writing is bad and feels like a Jr. High boy's creative writing assignment, full of fantastic concepts that have all been done before. There's a lot of explaining about past events and scene setup that should come from situations and dialog, but instead is given to us in a "Oh yeah, forgot to tell you..." fashion. Then there was the editing... Scenes were mishmashed together to tell the story loosely. I'm not an editor, but I even noticed scenes that would have been better left out or rearranged in a different order. Halfway through the movie, I left.
Soulless lifeless dull af boring cgi action flick
mr_chatila18 April 2019
Had to write this review seeing how so many others give it a 10, seriously? There's almost nothing to like or admire about this compared to the great 2 previous hell-boy movies directed by the great Guillermo del Toro. So disappointing and so forgettable, it's a tragedy and sin to moviegoers they opted to make this ramshackle ruinous flick instead of ending the initial hellboy trilogy by making hellboy 3. The horde (audience) wins over the others who appreciate really good things I guess!!!
Dumb but entertaining
vmanson-4901710 April 2019
zzz .... zzz .... zzz
FrenchEddieFelson8 May 2019
I really like the character of Hellboy with his little John McClane side, i.e. « I did not ask to be here, but as I am stuck here, please let me smash them all, one by one, just to have a little fun », and the dark atmosphere. The soundtrack is punchy and punk rock. At last, the Computer Generated Imagery is globally successful. For now: that's heavy! Nevertheless, the story is so predictable and terribly far-fetched. In short: desperately annoying. It's really an uninterrupted series of dismemberments, decapitation and eye-gouging delights during manifold battles against apocalyptic monsters. These scenes are strung together at a blistering pace for one disappointing purpose: make you forget an incoherent script full of moronic plot twists. Well, well, well, ... another film without much interest than we will quickly forget.
Hellboy is in pretty good hands.
kehathaway14 April 2019
First the bad and they aren't that bad. 1) While David Harbour does a pretty good job as Hellboy. But he lacks the natural charm that Ron Perlman had in the title role. Not to say that there aren't times that he comes off prefect for the part. 2) It is a well made film. But it doesn't have the spit and polish that Guillermo del Toro put into his film duo. One the good side Neil Marshall and the writers stayed true to the story Hellboy. The role of the big bad was beautifully played by Milla Jovovich (fair warning on this part I have been nursing a 20 + year crush on her). Daniel Dae Kim and Sasha Lane were great in their roles of Domino and Alice. They add a little more depth to help flesh on the new world created for the film. And the adding of Church as Lobster Johnson was great. On a whole it was a solid film. If you like modern fantasy, and want to move away from the Marvel/DC fight of which is the better superheroes. You could do worse than Hellboy.
fun, gross, crazy & very likeable... this 'soft' reboot IS Hellboy in EVERY WAY, SHAPE & FORM!
nate-car17 April 2019
Although the trailer & even poster had more spoilers than you could possibly believe, & the casting switch takes a bit to get used to, this new 'soft' reboot IS Hellboy in EVERY WAY, SHAPE & FORM!
Even without Del Toros creature shop, the digital characters & translations from the Hellboy comic were on point, interesting & terrifying.
The R rating, is probably the movies biggest flaw- excess swearing & SUPER graphic violence seem unnecessary & is probably a box office mistake for a paranormal action movie that kids would absolutely love.
Except for the origin briefly retold, it seems like JUST another great Hellboy adventure more than a reboot, being so close to the first two movies that Del Toro & Pearlman could EASILY come back with a sequel in a years' time & it not hurt whatsoever.
While skeptical to begin with I completely warmed up to it in very short time- fun, gross, crazy & very likable.
A wash
imdb020-643-12977220 April 2019
Unfortunately, the new "Hellboy" movie is a comics on a screen.
It's flat, the dialogs are unnecessary, there are fights here and there, there are continuity issues, there are a bad camera work and bad editing.
It looks like no one told the director that the cinematography is a very different form of art.
The movie is boring and honestly bad.
A waste of time and money.
It's a good movie if you know who Hellboy is.
Codacious2 May 2019
The movie itself should be a 6.5, maybe a 7 if you're a fan so I'm surprised by the low scores until I looked and seen how many people gave it a 1. Do you know how bad a movie has to be to receive a rating of 1? At first I thought the bible thumpers were uniting, but that doesn't seam to be the case so now I'm left to wonder who these *bright intelligent beings* are so I can filter any review or opinion they may have to the recycle bin.
I missed Doug Jones in this one as it's a reboot of sorts, but only after the movie was over as it held my attention for all the right reasons. I'm giving this a 10 to help offset the idiotic 1 reviews from people who thought they were sitting down to watch Mary Poppins.
I missed Doug Jones in this one as it's a reboot of sorts, but only after the movie was over as it held my attention for all the right reasons. I'm giving this a 10 to help offset the idiotic 1 reviews from people who thought they were sitting down to watch Mary Poppins.
Don't listen the critics
JackieDriver12 April 2019
I went to this movie with high expactasions, I came back and I was right, the movie was very good, the action, the comedy, the cgi it was all perfect. I liked the fact that they sticked to the comics. So dont listen the critics just go and see it!
Don't expect art
jhuffgunn12 April 2019
I really like Hellboy, and liked this movie a lot. I also liked the Del Toro movies, but this movie is more similar to the comics. It has fun action and I enjoyed the ride. CGI wasn't great, but I didn't bother me too much.
This is now the worst film I've ever seen.
nopplex16 April 2019
Somewhere there's a monkey at a typewriter claiming plagiarism. I really don't know where to begin with what I hated about this film. Simply put, I would say imagine 7 seasons of Game of Thrones lore and plot twists condensed into 2 hours via a series of flashbacks with added dick joke humour. I imagine my review will be removed but I'll add that the creators manage to include 2, that I can recall, child abuse jokes... because, you know, that's always funny?!
Fun, entertaining and funny
ryker212 April 2019
Really don't understand the hate. This movie is funny, and entertaining through and through. I loved it. A lot better than DelToro's version. Go see it, have a good time and don't go in expecting to hate it. It's actually a pretty solid movie. I mean cmon, it's hellboy, what do you want?
Makes Uwe Boll's movies look good.
tofairyfuture17 April 2019
It's a Average Movie
dommarotta13 April 2019
Truly Inadequate In Every Way
zaidmnomani5 May 2020
Hellboy 2019 is the very definition of a sloppy script with terrible special effects brought to life with terrible execution. This movie has one of the most convoluted stories I've ever seen, so much so that the best way to describe it would be thus: Five episodes of a TV show crammed together in the format of a two hour long film, with episodes one and three missing.
There were times when I wondered whether this was a sequel to a movie that I had not seen. That would explain how the film expects you to know all the characters, and constantly references to past events. Maybe if you were a hardcore fan of the comics you might understand. But that narrows down the target audience significantly, because I doubt that many people read Hellboy comics. If you were a casual movie goer who simply wished to watch a fun summer blockbuster, then you would understand this film as much as a person who has not seen any marvel movies understand Avengers Endgame.
The characters jump from one location to another every five minutes. At times it feels like a stage show. New scene, new location, new characters for a certain amount of time and then it jumps to the next scene. The two side characters are introduced halfway through the film, and are so insignificant at first that you don't realize they're integral to the plot until much later.
The villain's backstory is explained in the first five minutes by a terrible expedition dump. It's never a good sign when your story starts with a narrator who explains the plot. The story tries to have elements of King Arthur and the Dark Ages, ancient monsters and giants, and the modern day world. It would have been preferable if it took place in the ancient medieval days, because the modern setting really takes away from the atmosphere and mood.
You feel no emotional attachment to any character in the entire film, because there is nothing relatable or likable about them. Hellboy is mostly indifferent to everything that happens. He doesn't seem to care about the plot, which begs the question: Why should we? Hellboy's father is a huge jerk for most of the story as well and for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Even the villan is generic and forgetable.
The film jumps from one subplot to another, never giving the watcher time to process anything that's happening. Initially, I thought that it was going to be about a McGuffin subplot, but it completely skips over that and moves on to another McGuffin subplot. See what I mean by the story being needlessly complicated?
At least the practical effects are good, but they don't blend well with the CGI at all. The action is pretty entertaining, if you can understand what's going on. And the movie is pretty unique in terms of story. And by unique I mean it's structured in the most bizarre way possible. Watch this movie if you want a headache when it's over.
There were times when I wondered whether this was a sequel to a movie that I had not seen. That would explain how the film expects you to know all the characters, and constantly references to past events. Maybe if you were a hardcore fan of the comics you might understand. But that narrows down the target audience significantly, because I doubt that many people read Hellboy comics. If you were a casual movie goer who simply wished to watch a fun summer blockbuster, then you would understand this film as much as a person who has not seen any marvel movies understand Avengers Endgame.
The characters jump from one location to another every five minutes. At times it feels like a stage show. New scene, new location, new characters for a certain amount of time and then it jumps to the next scene. The two side characters are introduced halfway through the film, and are so insignificant at first that you don't realize they're integral to the plot until much later.
The villain's backstory is explained in the first five minutes by a terrible expedition dump. It's never a good sign when your story starts with a narrator who explains the plot. The story tries to have elements of King Arthur and the Dark Ages, ancient monsters and giants, and the modern day world. It would have been preferable if it took place in the ancient medieval days, because the modern setting really takes away from the atmosphere and mood.
You feel no emotional attachment to any character in the entire film, because there is nothing relatable or likable about them. Hellboy is mostly indifferent to everything that happens. He doesn't seem to care about the plot, which begs the question: Why should we? Hellboy's father is a huge jerk for most of the story as well and for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Even the villan is generic and forgetable.
The film jumps from one subplot to another, never giving the watcher time to process anything that's happening. Initially, I thought that it was going to be about a McGuffin subplot, but it completely skips over that and moves on to another McGuffin subplot. See what I mean by the story being needlessly complicated?
At least the practical effects are good, but they don't blend well with the CGI at all. The action is pretty entertaining, if you can understand what's going on. And the movie is pretty unique in terms of story. And by unique I mean it's structured in the most bizarre way possible. Watch this movie if you want a headache when it's over.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
