BRITISH director Neil Marshall has helmed a few effecting horror movies like the underground chiller The Descent and the brutal werewolf outing Dog Soldiers.
So it was interesting to see what he would do with the remake of Hellboy, which was also accompanied by an edgier 18 rating.
First off, David Harbour (of Stranger Things fame) who plays the titular comic book supernatural hero nailed it as the red half-demon with the “right hand of doom”. His makeup and prosthetics were great, while his voice and attitude were spot on.
His performance was simply the best thing about the entire endeavour.
But before we proceed, a little back story first. Hellboy, which was created by American comic artist and writer Mike Mignola, had already been brought to the big screen twice before with Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro in the director’s chair.
His version of the snarky character, fittingly played to a tee by Ron Perlman, feature a more fantastical, enchanting and dreamy world which befitted the Oscar-winning director’s style.
Comparisons are inevitable as the two movies were pretty well made, well loved and had also raked in a decent amount of money at the box office.
The second movie, The Golden Army, from 2008 also managed to overcome the dreaded sophomore slump by delivering a sequel that was more entertaining than the first.
There were plans for del Toro and Perlman to return to complete the trilogy but the powers that resided at the studios did not approve. The project went to hell and an inevitable reboot was brought forth.
But rumour has it that the Neil Marshall version also had studio interference and creative differences added to the mix onset.
Whether or not it’s just hearsay or fact, it certainly shows in the final product, which featured an incoherent and slapdash feel to the whole affair.
To cut a long story short, the movie sees Hellboy brought in to take care of a trio of rampaging giants that terrorise the English countryside. Not long after that he quickly learns that there’s an even bigger threat looming over the horizon.
This devilish menace comes in the beautiful form of Nimue the Blood Queen (Milla Jovovich) who, after centuries of tragic banishment, is back and ravenous for vengeance.
She wants nothing but to bring about the destruction of mankind and it will be up to Hellboy to come to terms with his origins and choose to save the day.
Along the way he picks up a couple of allies to help him on his mission made up of Alice Monaghan (Sasha Lane), a woman with seemingly magical powers, and Ben Daimio (Daniel Dae Kim), a military officer with a beastly secret.
Although the movie moved along at a brisk pace, it seemed like there was too much of source material to cover in such a short period of time, the two-hour long duration notwithstanding.
Things felt glossed over and the characters suffered from a lack of depth and resonance. Some minor players even came and went without much explanation.
Certain scenes between Hellboy and his human adoptive father Trevor Bruttenholm (Ian McShane) worked but unfortunately others were tepid.
There’s also Big Red’s dilemma of wanting to bridge the chasm between humans and the creatures from a darker world. He also later struggles with his demon heritage and fear of being an unwilling Harbinger of the Apocalypse as his real name, Anung Un Rama, suggests.
These dramatic forays, however, are just brought into the mix and never fully explored or realised, just forgotten once the action kicks in.
Granted, this is just a comic book movie with a pretty out there premise so it doesn’t have to be Shakespeare but why can’t it be fun either?
This brings me to the CGI work which is surprisingly pretty horrendous and unconvincing in its presentation of a myriad of devastating creatures during later scenes. Sure, there’s plenty of gore and blood to go around, although it was all by the numbers and acutely hollow and inconsequential.
Looks like the 18 rating didn’t really make an impact unlike say Deadpool, where the storytelling team really made full use of the opportunity.
It did have a couple of interestingly filmed action sequences featuring otherworldly creatures though, one being the initial fight between Hellboy and the boneheaded giants and the other featuring a creepy witch.
Having read the comics that it’s based on, the main complaint would be that the original art itself is quite distinct which adds to the streamlined narrative and flamboyant adventures of the tailed hero treading through a world beset by a mystical soup of myth, magic, folklore and supernatural mayhem.
The new movie could have been a great opportunity to construct a grungy, raw and grind house type of outing. Perhaps if Marshall’s arms were not tied and he was able to realise his full vision for the title, it might have turned out much better.
Unfortunately, del Toro’s Hellboy movies featured more entertaining and coherent works coupled with a host of interestingly fleshed out characters compared to this reboot.
It wouldn’t be a long stretch to assume that there might be many fans who would have rather seen del Toro complete his trilogy with a third movie instead.
Sadly, what’s most noticeably lacking with the new reboot is that ironic sense of magic and wonder.
NOW SHOWING
HELLBOY
DIRECTOR Neil Marshall
STARRING David Harbour, Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane, Sasha Lane, Daniel Dae Kim, Thomas Haden Church
DURATION 120 minutes
RATING 18