"Hellboy" movie review: Watch it or skip it?
Connect
Hellboy is a reboot of the 2004 film with the same name. I have got to say, it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. I probably wouldn’t take kids to see it because although it looks obviously fake, there is a lot of gore in the movie. Think heads being cracked open, people being ripped apart. The film felt a little cheesy. The lines felt like I’ve heard them before in every other action comedy I have ever seen. Also, I noticed that the rock soundtrack sounded like they didn’t leave any budget for some good sounding music.
The movie itself was fun. Lots of action scenes, some comedy that is funny at times and cringey at others. There wasn’t much of a story though, and things felt like they were dragging along a bit. Also, I didn’t really know the characters which didn’t help me with trying to figure out what was going on, so I feel you need to maybe read up a little on the comics to be up to speed.
I really enjoyed the tone of the sets, whether it was the streets of Tijuana, dark, seedy and filled with neon accents. Or the hills of England, the movie did a great job with their sets. One thing I did not like was how fake some of the characters looked, it felt distracting at times. Hellboy looked pretty badass, so did some of the villains, but a lot of the no name characters looked like they were put together last minute by the special effects team.
My conclusion, this movie was not better than the 2004 original. The acting felt like people went over the top when trying to be cool and witty, the comedy was a mix of laugh out loud moments mixed in with I feel bad for them for trying that joke. The main characters looked cool, then the special effects budget ran out for everybody else. The action scenes were enjoyable, but there was no one great climactic moment. The story moved slow at times, and it was a little predictable.
So, should you watch it or skip it? I’m torn on this one. I’d say if you liked the original, watch it. If you don’t care for Hellboy and you’re expecting a great movie, SKIP IT! All in all, this just felt like a sloppy reuse of movie clichés. Even with all of these small flaws I thought it was a fun movie. Would I watch this again? No. Did I regret watching it? Kind of. If you enjoyed the 2004 movie, I would check this out just to judge for yourself. My Final Score: 6/10.
Don’t forget to stick around for 2 End Credit Scenes. One happens midway through the credits which is pretty funny and worth sticking around for. The last one is at the end of the final credits which sets up a possible sequel. If you didn’t like the movie much, then you can probably skip the 2nd End credits scene.