Summary:
A demon that was brought from another dimension by Nazis is raised by a secret US organization to protect the world from darkness.
My Thoughts:
This last weekend I had plans to go see the latest “Hellboy (2019)” movie, but as the reviews started to flood in, and I saw that they were overwhelmingly negative, I decided I’d much rather just stay home and rewatch Guillermo Del Toro’s versions instead, and boy, am I glad I did.
It had been ages since I’d rewatched the first “Hellboy”, and while I remembered enjoying it, I did not remember how wonderfully directed the film was and how carefully and painstakingly the world was crafted. This film might not be perfect, but it is easily one of the best urban fantasy films to ever have hit the silver screen. Not only that; this is one of the most creative superhero films that I’ve seen. It’s absolutely mind-boggling to me that Del Toro’s “Hellboy” franchise never saw its third entry, as the first two films are golden entries into the superhero genre. Though I still have plans to watch the “Hellboy (2019)” reboot, it will probably be a while before I convince myself to schlepp my way through a film I know will be far inferior to Del Toro’s versions.
“Look, Sammy, I’m not a very good shot, but the Samaritan here uses really big bullets.”
Nazis summon a demon from another dimension, but that demon is then rescued by the US government and raised in a secret facility to fight evil. The demon is codenamed Hellboy (Ron Perlman, “Cronos”). Among the government workers charged with helping Hellboy are two other mutants, Abe Sapian (Doug Jones, “The Shape of Water”) and Liz Sherman (Selma Blair, “Mom and Dad”), as well as Trevor “Broom” Bruttenholm (John Hurt, “The Elephant Man”) whom has been with Hellboy since he first arrived on Earth, public relations officer Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor, “The Death of Stalin”), and newcomer John Meyers (Rupert Evans, “American Pastoral”). As evil forces gather, Hellboy and co must work together to understand the true nature of who they are while also trying to prevent the coming apocalypse.
As the first scene of this film played out, I thought to myself that it really makes a difference when there is a director that cares about the source material. The “Hellboy” series was Del Toro’s passion project, and it’s incredibly obvious how much love went in to crafting the worlds he brings to screen. Del Toro directed the first Hellboy in 2004, then in 2006 he went to make “Pan’s Labyrinth” for which he was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, and then he returned to this world in 2008 to make “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”. I’m sure many directors would’ve taken the opportunity an Oscar nomination brought them to make something other than a superhero film, but not Del Toro; he just loves Hellboy that much (and surprisingly “Hellboy II” is even better than this!).
There is an amazing amount of detail that goes into everything, from the character designs to the sets to the way characters interact with one another. It feels as if this world has been well carefully and meticulously orchestrated. Not only is it obvious that Del Toro really loves the source material, Del Toro is just a great director. He knows the language of cinema. He knows how to use certain techniques to pull the viewer’s eye in one direction and how to misdirect that attention when he wants to. Even the first scene of this film, which is an action sequence, was brilliantly done. It sets the dark-but-humorous tone of the film, shows us some awesome bad guys that we know will be back later, and it works as a brief origin for Hellboy as well.
All of the characters in the Bureau of Paranormal Research come together like a family, and Del Toro clearly knows that family well. The characters know each other’s quirks and ticks, they know how to get under each other’s skin, but they also know how to be tender with each other. Every character gets to show vast dynamic range. It’s rare that we see such great characterization in any movie, let alone one where the protagonist is a four hundred pound red demon. Beyond the characters, the world itself feels like it expands further than the boundaries of the frame. Every character and creature design seems thought out, the space where Hellboy lives feels like its been lived in. This fantasy world feels tactile enough to be relatable, yet fantastical enough to always be compelling. One of the things I enjoyed most about this world was the fact that it was truly urban fantasy (think “Bright”, but good). For 75% of this film I felt like I was watching a police procedural set in a fantasy world. It’s like watching Philip Marlowe (“The Big Sleep”) or Mike Hammer (“Kiss Me Deadly”) go after mobsters if the mobsters were actually the Nazgul from Lord of the Rings. I’m a fantasy geek. I eat crap like this up.
While I did really enjoy this film, there are a few minor issues with it. First, it is a little on the long side. Notably, I did watch the directors cut of the film, which is ten minutes longer. And, if I’m being honest, it’s been so long since I’ve watched the theatrical cut I couldn’t tell you if the pacing was a bit better in that version. For the most part, I feel like the film moved along at a very solid pace, but it’s the first act that really suffers the most. After the first scene, where Hellboy is pulled into our world, we spend probably twenty minutes establishing Hellboy’s world, and some of the scenes during that time are certainly slower than others. The third act also starts to go off the deep end. As I mentioned, for about 75% of this film, this movie feels like a police procedural- it’s pretty grounded as far as stakes go. But then, as we ramp up to the climax, the stakes ramp up stupendously, to the point where everyone in the world is at risk. I know a lot of people like their superheroes to save the whole world in a big CGI explosion-fest, but honestly, I wish this film had kept its climax a little bit smaller, more grounded, at the end. The CGI near the end is easily the least polished looking part, and while the ending is pseudo-satisfying it doesn’t, in my opinion, have nearly as much heart as the rest of the film. This is, however, a small bone to pick with an otherwise very good film.
Verdict:
Before I went back and rewatched this movie I had remembered that I had enjoyed it, but I had not remembered it being as good as it is. This is probably one of the most creative superhero franchises to hit the silver screen, and I will once more lament the fact that we’ll never get the third entry in Del Toro’s trilogy. I watched this film with TMM reviewer Karl on a snowy Sunday in April (gotta love that weather in Michigan!), and both of us enjoyed this entry so much we decided to keep the ball rolling and move right on to “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”.
Review Written By: