A Silver Screen Affair

ASSA: Hellboy

A Silver Screen Affair:

Hellboy

Hellboy is a supernatural action film from director Neil Marshall, based upon the comic series by Mike Mignola. Specifically, it adopts from Darkness Calls, The Wild Hunt, The Storm and Hellboy in Mexico.

Originally intended to be a sequel, Hellboy became a reboot of the movie series instead. We follow the exploits of Hellboy, a demonic paranormal enforcer as he and the BPRD attempt to prevent the resurrection of a vengeful blood witch, Nimue, seeking to enslave humanity.

Lets get the elephant in the room out of the way. Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy, this is not. Whereas Ron Pearlman’s Hellboy was the snappy, big bro kind, David Harbour’s rendition is a bit more exasperated, but heartfelt. And here, that’s fine. Hellboy is bold and strong, but he’s also caring and understanding. There’s this thread of Hellboy seeking peace, both internally and externally throughout the film. Sadly, the movie doesn’t seem to know quite what to do with this. HellBoy is a man pushed to and fro by the whims of the parties inn his life. He has enough conviction to not accept anyone’s philosophy without question, but not enough to be able to verbalize a nuanced one of his own that can stand toe to toe with those of the people around him.

And it’s on this note that I must say Hellboy is a bit of a mixed bag. The pacing in the front end of Act 1 seems rushed. Not the plot, but mechanically. To quote Jay-Z, “Let it breathe”. Establishing shots fly by with nary enough time to drink it all in. The score is kinda raucous and wouldn’t feel out of place in a videogame. I wouldn’t mind at all if it wasn’t so ungodly loud. Now I’m not a film student, but even to my amateurish eyes, some of the cuts felt janky, as if they truncated certain actions. It gives the air of a loud, frenetic production with a great deal of footage ( I can give them the benefit of the doubt) that got shaved down too much to fit the screentime.

That being said, there’s some cool things in there I wish I got more of. I’m really digging the more conscious HellBoy that David gives us. There’s also this one scene that’s, for lack of a better term, metal as fuck – you’ll know it when you see it. They waste it. It’s followed up later by another scene in the city that’s pretty brutal as well. I mean like DOOM brutal. They waste that one, too.

I really don’t know what to say other than Hellboy is just OK, at best. There’s stuff to appreciate in this movie, but it’s tucked away in a film that doesn’t do it justice.