Review of Hellboy (2019) by Greenisgood — 15 Jul 2019

TL;DR - Give it a pass and re-watch del Toro's version once more if you have and instead if you haven't.

After the reveals of the production issues this movie went through it is not surprising to see the movie dwindle in quality from minute one to the climax. Setting aside my love for del Toro and Ron Pearlman, I really do like David Harbour as an actor and as Hellboy as well. The first half of the movie got me in as the secret clans plotting, Prof Broom-Hellboy's interactions and the Foul Mouthed yet terrifying if you ever seen one Pig Creature back story were all pretty interesting.

What I did not like is the train wreck of the writing and a lot of what seemed like editing issues as I felt many scenes just ended abruptly, this really put me on edge as it kept increasing through out the film. Some plot points also started going in weird directions like King Arthur's Blood line/Hell Boy's Half Human Heritage and Excalibur's importance, though I am not sure whether this is cannon accurate; it just seemed to come out of no where.

The CGI was decent and I didn't see any problematic eyesore CGI through out, with one absolute stand out of Hellboy with the flaming sword riding the Dragon; I wish that was a more fleshed out scene than just a vision as that was spectacular.

I always liked Milla Jovovich because she is pretty and I have a special so bad it's good place in my heart for the earlier few Resident Evil Movies. Similarly she did a decent job, here as an over the top Vampy villainess Witch. The Creature effects also were well done for the most part, Baba Yaga's Home was a particular standout. Weirdest possession I have ever seen though; if they were going for a gross out creepy vibe they hit the nail for Alice's Spirit Possessions.

But sadly all in all the whole thing put together was a mismatched puzzle at best, or a painting that the longer you look at the more you start seeing glaring issues that take away from being as glorious it should be.