Hellboy Trailer Punches its Way Online
Legendary raised hell just days before Christmas when they released the Hellboy trailer. The new film is a reboot of the comic-based movie series (duo, really) from director Guillermo del Toro. Stranger Things’ David Harbour slips into the giant red hand, replacing former Hellboy star Ron Perlman, while Rob Marshall takes over behind the camera for del Toro; Mila Jovovich, Ian McShane, Daniel Dae Kim, Sasha Lane and Thomas Hayden Church round out the cast. Based on the Mike Mignola comic book series, Hellboy releases on April 12, 2019, having been pushed back from January 11. Check out the Hellboy trailer below…
It’s hard to give the Hellboy trailer – or the movie itself – a fair shake knowing what came before it. I liked 2004’s Hellboy okay, and I loved Hellboy II: The Golden Army (I read the first comic book arc, on which the 2004 movie was mostly based, and found it dull). While the first wasn’t everything I thought it could’ve been, what made it so watchable and entertaining despite its flaws was Ron Perlman. He was perfect as Hellboy, a fun, lively regular Joe who happened to be a powerful demon with a rock hand. Like Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, there was an ease to Perlman’s performance, as though he was largely being himself, and Hellboy came to life as a result. The Golden Army fixed my biggest issue with its predecessor by having a menagerie of monsters for Hellboy to fight (how many times was he going to tangle with that one tongue monster?), and offered a compelling villain who, with a few tweaks to the script, could have been the hero. You could tell del Toro was free to play with the sequel, and the result is a wonderful movie that had the bad luck of coming out in the summer of 2008 (a week before The Dark Knight!). Based on the Hellboy trailer – which may be unfair, but that’s what they’re here for – David Harbour doesn’t seem to capture any of the vitality and fun Perlman brought to the role. Moreover, he doesn’t have Perlman’s presence; he seems to be letting the makeup do the work, whereas Perlman simply embodied it. His jokes don’t quite work, and it sounds like he’s trying too hard. I do like that, again like The Golden Army and unlike the initial film, there appears to be a variety of fantastical foes for Hellboy to fight. Once again, though, it makes one wonder what these creatures would look like with del Toro at the helm. Neil Marshall is fine and all; I remember liking Doomsday, and he’s directed episodes of some great TV shows. But del Toro is so unique a visual visionary that Marshall can’t help but feel like a step down. Maybe the new Hellboy will be good, but I suspect it will always feel like an imitation.
What did you think of the Hellboy trailer? Are you excited for the movie? Do you find Ron Perlman overrated? Let us know in the comments and stick around Geeks + Gamers for more movie news!
