After Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), comes this series' reboot - Hellboy (2019). This movie, has a lot of changes from the last Hellboy movie with David Harbour taking over from Ron Perlman in the titular character and director Guillermo del Toro has been replaced by Neil Marshall. The movie starts with the Dark Ages as King Arthur and his wizard Merlin feign surrender but ambush and kill an immortal, very powerful witch - Vivienne Nimue (Milla Jovovich), who is also known as the Blood Queen!

The Blood Queen wants monsters to co-exist with the humans on this planet and for that very reason, her body is cut into many parts, put into crates and buried in different locations, making it difficult for anybody to find. In the present day, Hellboy (David Harbour) is a half-demon who has unnatural strength and ultra-quick healing powers and helps the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) to kill dangerous demons.



When Hellboy's enemies conspire together to put together all parts of the Blood Queen and revive her, all hell breaks loose (literally)! With personal trauma, imminent danger and secrets being withheld from him by the person he thinks to be his father - Trevor Bruttenholm (Ian McShane), Hellboy must face them all! How will he? What are the dangers he is facing? Watch Hellboy for all the answers!

The story is very simple and can be decoded in the very first half. There are not many surprises in the plot line but quite a few confusions. Not much background on a few characters are provided and those who do not have previous knowledge of the characters would be at a loss to understand their importance in the world of Hellboy and even more curious as to the reasons behind their behaviour toward Hellboy. This creates a majorly distorted screenplay for the viewers. Also, unlike any of the previous two movies, none of the characters or incidences leave an impact. Even the portrayal of Hellboy shows him as a person of somewhat lesser intelligence and the wisecracks which added colour to the character in the earlier movies is also missing. David Harbour is good as Hellboy but somehow isn't able to replicate what Ron Perlman did.



Many excellent performers like Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane and Sasha Lane (who appears as Alice Monaghan) are let down by the poor writing. The very frequently appearing violent sequences with lot of blood and severed body parts, really make for disturbing viewing and don't seem to actually fit the flow of the narrative. The entire handling of the movie seems to have been planned in some specific way but that has unfortunately not come off. Also, there's an important character reveal towards the climax of the movie. Even the length of the movie begins to test the viewers patience beyond a point of time. 



The CG work is rather patchy at places and the BGM a tad overwhelming. There would definitely be comparisons drawn between Guillermo del Toro and Neil Marshall but expectations would be high on Marshall too after knowing he has directed two episodes of Game of Thrones (Blackwater & The Watchers on the Wall). There definitely is a freshness in the way Neil Marshall has handled Hellboy and it may appeal to a some but not with the majority.

Verdict: Hellboy (2019) could be a let down if viewed with expectations after watching the earlier versions but might be acceptable if viewed as a standalone movie!

Rating: 2/5