Rating: 6/10
Genre: Fantasy
Related Titles: Spawn, Hellboy, Ghost Rider, Doctor Strange
By Leanne Harragan
Hellboy is one of those films that is complete and utter trash. It's not good in anyway really, but I have to admit that I did enjoy watching it. There's literally no reason I enjoyed it other than how ridiculous it was. It started out pretty ridiculously and from there went even more downhill. It's pretty slow and takes a while to get going, even when it finally gets going, it doesn't really go anywhere.
I love the soundtrack that accompanies this film, it's got some great tunes including Cilla Blacks 'Anyone Who had a Heart', Billy Idol's 'White Wedding' and Muse's 'Psycho.' There are loads of great songs on this soundtrack but honestly there are all so out of place. None more so than Cilla Black's tune blaring in the background of a dodgy looking fish and chip shop.
This film is honestly bizarre, it has Nazi's and the ghost of Stalin, King Arthur and Merlin thrown in and make an appearance along the way. There are trolls and a hidden agency in charge of defeating these beasts. There are Alice in Wonderland references and Morgana rises and tries to control the earth. The more I think about it, the less sense Hellboy makes. There are bizarre plot points all over the place and none of them connect together very smoothly.
One good thing is that this film was rated 15. This allowed it to be that bit more violent, gory and have more explicit language. It paid of for the fight scenes as they were much more gory and this is one of the highlights of the film really. Another highlight was the British-ness of this film with the swearing and the cameo of Laila Morse famed for her iconic role as Big Mo in Eastenders - truly something only Brits will appreciate. I'm sure there was an attempt to stick to source material but as someone who hasn't read the comics, I can't really quantify the success of this, from general consensus online - it hasn't gone well!
As for the cast, there are some big names with David Harbour (Chief Hopper, Stranger Things), Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil) and Daniel Dae Kim (Lost). Performances really aren't so bad (aside from Sasha Lane's questionable British accent!) I'm fairly certain Kim hasn't aged since his performance in Lost and he plays the role of Ben well. Jovovich continues to prove that sci-fi/supernatural roles are her forte with her portrayal Vivian Nimue. Harbour is fantastic as titular character Hellboy, he proves that he is a skilled actor and a little bit of a wasted talent in a film as shocking as this.
This reboot has fallen flat on it's face and that makes it hard to write a positive review about a film as terrible as this. How do you begin to explain that you enjoyed an absolute train wreck of a film? If you take any recommendations from this blog, ignore my review and give this film a miss!
Rating: 4/10
By Rebecca Mannick
I don't even know where to start with this joke of a movie. With expectations already high, you are brought right back down to earth even with the opening sequence. The storyline is pretty poor and the gore, the script are terrible to match. To be honest - from the get go this isn't my preferred genre but I am always open to giving movies a chance especially if they are as high profiled as this one.
During the dark age, Nimue the blood Queen was cut up and placed around the country. As her remains get collected it is up to Hellboy and those around him to stop her. However Hellboy's evil nature is tested as the Blood Queen lures him towards the dark side.
Unfortunately David Harbour (Hellboy) wasn't able to do enough to sway this movie to a positive direction and I'm sure that the rest of the cast will be more memorable in other roles that they have played. Obviously Harbour is solid as Jim Hopper in 'Stranger Things'. Hellboy's best friend is played by Sasha Lane but ultimately performs better as Jane Fonda in 'The Miseducation of Cameron Post' (she also needs to work on her British accent) Also to round up the team is Daniel Dae Kim as he plays Ben Daimio but will always be better remember as his role as Jin in Lost (my all time favourite TV show)
What really put me off this picture was the amount of gore - there were honestly some scenes which were absolutely vile - you could tell that they were trying to push up the age rating. It pushes its 15 age certification unnecessarily in my opinion.
The whole 4 points go to Laila Morse AKA Mo from Eastenders - her two lines were iconic and she is the star of the show. Don't waste your time on Hellboy - I assure you will be disappointed. Yes a bit harsh but also true.
No comments:
Post a Comment