Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Hellboy (2019)

This film is great fun I don’t know what all the hate is about. Maybe it’s because I’m one of the few people who haven’t seen the Ron Perlman version and I kind of think that’s good though as I was able to go in it with a fresh set of eyes and not complain about getting a hellboy 3. Now is this film perfect? Hell no is it fun though your damn right it’s fun and it’s full of swearing gore and Intensity cranked up to a 1000. David Harbour gives a fun performance as the title character and the film is such balls to the walls fun you just gotta sit back and enjoy the ride. 

First off, If I am not mistaken this film is more in line to the book source then the films that came  before it as this film tone wise is a lot darker with a more horror and creepier version as that’s what the comics did and so I respect the approach to the source material by staying as faithful as possible and really pushing the films limits. When I say it’s gory I’m not lying it’s at times it really can get gruesome with the stuff their putting onscreen it is very graphic but I admire them for really going for it with the R rating. This film has Merlin it has winged cage matches it’s crazy but I kind of like that their are so many films nowadays that take itself so seriously to have a film that just goes totally south and just have fun and give you big action explosions and a fun narrative I can get behind that because I enjoy that time to time. So what this film dose with it’s style of the high volume violence and story is to me well done and enjoyable fun. 

Secondly, David Harbour is freaking great! He plays Hellboy so well he has this comedic element to him that can get tiring after a while as he dose it quite a bit that’s the only gripe I would have about his performance but besides that he really is full throttle in this film and gives an amazing makeup transformation into the title character changing every aspect of himself psychically and also within his personality he totally disappears and is funny, serious vulnerable and so much more he is the reason this film really works is due to David’s very charismatic performance at the full front of it all. 

Lastly, A lot of people are shitting on this film it currently is sitting at a 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and I strongly disagree with the critics as what are you expecting here it’s a film about the living incarnation of the devil who hunts down demons like it’s going to be a bit weird and odd and that’s what I expected and I had a ton of fun with the incredible action the great style and direction this goes in is fantastic as it’s unpredictable fun to be had with David Harbour at the heart of it giving a really fun and entertaining performance. This film isn’t Hell and boy is it fun to watch I recommend everyone to check this film out. 

This film is based on the comic book series of the same name and is about Hellboy a detective who works to find demons and monsters and when a witch is being brought back to life to take over the world he must step up and defeat her before she does. 

Rated R : for strong bloody violence and gore throughout, and language

David Harbour : David gives a incredible makeup transformation that is something to behold. You can say what you want about the film but David’s transformation into the title character is outstanding as he looks like him from head to toe and disappears into the character from its amazing makeup that helped contribute to it. He has been a very entertaining character actor in Hollywood and has found great success on the small screen with Stranger Things which I absolutely love him in and here he steps up to the challenge to play the very well loved comic book character Hellboy. David was perfect to play this role as he has a certain charm and wit to him that matches the personality of the character so greatly that you can’t help but love what he’s bringing to the screen. He has fantastic depth and layers throughout the film he brings great lengths of comedic elements to it that surprisingly worked and really was genuinely funny when he would use a witty comment or joke. He also could crank up the hero factor and also be a total badass and I jus love David’s work here he’s so likeable as an actor that seeing him here you can tell he’s having such fun with the role and wants to be as faithful to the source material as possible and it shows through his performance. He also can be very vulnerable as well and being his voice down and just open up and have very emotional heart to heart moments that feel very genuine then the next he can be full of rage and passion and anger in his eyes David just brings this array of emotions that is perfectly shown throughout the film and he shows that he can be a lead and kick ass as he dose time and time again here. He brings the emotion he brings the fantastic energy and charisma to the screen and captures hellboy so well you can’t take your eyes off of him he’s so much fun to watch and again David brings another well rounded performance to the screen with very strong acting to the role as always. 

Neil Marshall : Neil is a filmmaker I am unfamiliar with as I have not seen any of his previous work prior to seeing this film. From what I heard he dose lots of horror heavy gore styled films and after seeing what he did with Hellboy I definitely wouldn’t mind checking out his other films. He brings an origin story and a compelling narrative without it slowing down at all as the origin story takes about 5 minutes which was perfect so it never felt like it dragged on or needed an entire film to show how Hellboy becomes Hellboy we see that already and we see it from flashbacks. I thought that was well thought out and done by Neil and he really gives a interesting narrative with a very strong antagonist at the centre of it with very strong supporting characters too and he just fuels this film with loads of swearing violence and fantasy and damn is it fun to watch. He gets the best performance from his lead David Harbour and takes the audience on a journey and gets you to really invest and care for the title character while also giving you an experience you won’t forget with incredible action sequences. He has this very stylized tone to it I just love that feels like Suicide Squad meets Training Day and that’s the best two examples I can have to describe it is he has this high wired film which sure is very outrageous but that’s also part of the charm too that’s so appealing at least to me and I loved what Neil brought here and that he used Makeup and prosthetic and not CGI as we aren’t getting many films with actual markup artists anymore which is unfortunate but here we do and it’s great he brings great heart humour and this dark horror tone to it that is great fun while also staying true to the source material and Neil dose this film incredibly well with his direction.