movies

It was only on a short run here so I had to quickly grab late afternoon screening before it vanished.

I found it to be the most comic-accurate of them all (as you might expect from Mike Mignola's close involvement) and they absolutely nailed Hellboy's character as well as the feel of a lot of the usual stories. It felt like this approach is the way to start a franchise, then build up to the major stories (one criticism.of GdT's Hellboy is it went too big too early - like having Endgame as the first MCU movie).

However, it did also have it's faults, especially in it looking cheap the colour-grading was a sludgy green (as if they'd heard of orange and teal but felt orange was a bit too racy, the opposite is true for The Batman who ditched teal) and quite a few effects and props weren't really up to scratch (you could see the airbrushing on Hellboy's torso which looked very rubbery and fake).

So while there is definite room for improvement it seems like a good start, but going where? The studio not releasing the film in US cinemas suggests they have no confidence in it, that plus the poor reception would suggest a sequel isn't on the cards. So the IP goes back on the shelf again. I suspect the next best shot, five to ten years down the line, will be an animated series. Uzumaki is demonstrating how well an animation in the style of the original comics can work and Hellboy has a very distinctive style, which is difficult to capture in live action. Netflix did well with the Castlevania animated series (until Warren Ellis got #MeTooed) and if they were Looking to expand their slate if animated shows adapting franchises with a built-in audience then Hellboy could be just the ticket. Ah well, we'll see I suppose, at some point.