Ahhh… Hellboy… the superhero that was forced to be liked in the big screen.
Hellboy as a character had none but also needs no introduction. He is a hell-spawn for Christ’s shake. Working for a national service that deals with paranormal beasts where his father is the head person there.
It would not feel like a reboot if you did not know it. The attitude of the character is the same as the other films. Hellboy is edgy, unpleasant to the rest of the mankind but surprisingly someone you can identify. The fast and burning answers feel appropriate and come right from his and your heart.
Not wanting to focus into the story-line a lot, I want to emphasize to the fact that Hellboy is a bad-ass character giving minus zero facks (Yes I said -0, what are you going to do about it?) but still he is a main character without a big rival. The only true rival he faced, ended up being killed by someone else, which is so anticlimactic and hurts the building of a Hellboy as a character. In the end, Hellboy gets no big thrills, no big moments despite being worthy or not.
As a film, a lot of points are lost due to the bad management of good characters and companions of Hellboy. Even if his father figure is a great addition to the film, the other support characters get the same treatment with Hellboy’s rivals. They both unfortunately get none.
A big boy and a clumsy person who loves his father but with deep inner questions about life, Hellboy is a lot. Meaning that Hellboy has a lot to offer to the viewer if done correctly. However this is not the case and even if the viewer can most of the time totally relate with Hellboy, it feels like the second half of the film with all the good events included, is missing.
Conclusions
While you can emotionally feel Hellboy and relate with him in several situations, it had the potential of being a great film if a little more excitement and more scenes of Hellboy kicking-butt were introduced. Hoping for the best but unfortunately being prepared for the worst for the next Hellboy.
Favourite quotes
- “Dr. Edwin: Does it do anything special? Hellboy: Yeah, it smashes things real good.”
- “Alice: That’s some present. Hellboy: Some dads get their kids LEGOs.”
- “Daimio: You’re the guy who’s going to bring about the end of the world? Get over yourself.”
- “Hellboy: Hey, I’m on your side! Police Officer: Sorry! My bad.”