Hellboy (2004,2019)

Hellboy

2004

Director- Guillermo del Toro

Cast- Ron Perlman, John Hurt, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, David Hyde Pierce, Karel Roden, Rupert Evans, Bridget Hodson, Jeffrey Tambor

           

     I went back and forth on how to classify this film.  It isn’t really horror but it’s also not obviously something else. It’s sort of an action film. Despite its title it doesn’t fit into the typical God vs. Satan mythology. But then again it doesn’t fit into anything. Or really it fits into a lot of things all at once. Mike Mignola’s signature comic combines a heavy dose of Lovecraft, liberally sprinkled with folklore and mythology from all over the world and filters it through Christian and gothic imagery. It’s this improbable mixture (along with Mignola’s art) that has made the comic so endearing.

          

      If you’re not familiar with it, the plot of the movie (which is reasonably close to the comic) goes like this. The Mad Monk himself, Rasputin, teams up with Nazi’s to unleash some Lovecraftian god frozen in space, and in the process, lets loose a baby demon who is then raised by a parapsychologist to be a weapon against the evil supernatural forces around the world. Teamed up with him are a pyrokinetic and a blue Creature from the Black Lagoon. Yeah, it may not sound like it works but it does.

      

    

    I give the movie a B+. It succumbs to Hollywoodisms with silly stunts, an unneeded schmuck  character for a narrative device and the unfortunate decision to turn the creepy Karl Kroenen into a robot ninja. Despite all this, it keeps the spirit of the comic and is pretty spot on with its visual translation of the characters from comic to film. The main attraction of course is Ron Perlman as Hellboy. He looks great and the look is achieved through old school makeup and not a bunch of distracting CGI.

           

     A sequel was made a few years later, The Golden Army. Although it was a more successful movie, it veers too far away from the dark creepiness of the comic and feels more like Hellboy meets Tolkein. The reboot, although financially a flop, was more enjoyable.

Hellboy

2019

Director- Neil Marshall

Cast- David Harbour, Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane, Sasha Lane, Daniel Dae Kim, Thomas Haden Church

     

      This movie has a lot going for it. One could easily say it’s a genre fan’s dream. David Harbour (Stranger Things) dons the horns this time. His nemesis is Mila Jovovich (Fifth Element, Resident Evil) with Ian McShane (Deadwood, John Wick) in support. The whole thing is over seen by Neil Marhsall (Dog Soldiers, Doomsday). What it didn’t have was Ron Perlman, and that was just a bridge too far for most fans it seems. Many fans hated the film 6 months before they saw it (like the similarly doomed Solo: A Star Wars Story, and like with Solo, they seemed to go out of their way to torpedo it on social media.)

           

    I never could understand this reaction. The studio offered the job to Ron and he turned it down. Also, it had been 15 years since the first Hellboy film. One can hardly blame him for moving on. But alas, such is the fickle nature of the modern fan. God help whoever is eventually picked to replace Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. That poor sap will probably never know what hit him.

            

     As for Mila, can we all just acknowledge that she is immortal? It’s been over 20 years since Fifth Element and she is still astonishingly beautiful.

            

    As for the movie itself, in this installment, Hellboy and his crew are fighting a thousand year old witch (Jovovich) who is trying to summon an army of demons. If you’ve seen Doomsday, you are familiar with what Marshall can do in terms of mixing genre elements. This film crams lucha libre wrestling, vampires, a lycanthrope, demons, giants, Baba Yaga, ectoplasmic spirit channeling, Nazis, Merlin and King Arthur and a ton of gore into 2 hours. I thought it was a wild, fun film and well worth the price of admission. The film got decent reviews from fans who saw it, but too many fans, through misplaced loyalty, just avoided it.

            

     If you’re not married to the idea that Ron has to be Hellboy, this film will give you everything you could want. If on the other hand, you can’t stomach the idea of passing the torch, best just leave the movie alone as it will no doubt drive up your blood pressure.