 |
| Images courtesy of Millenium Media |
After a failed attempt to reboot the Hellboy franchise with horror director Neil Marshall (The Descent, Dog Soldiers) in 2019, the brand was put to sleep for a few years after its dismal box office.
Now, we're given another reboot of the beloved hell spawn that strips away all the glorious effects luster of Guillermo del Toro's version and takes us further beyond the failure of Marshall's dumpster fire. Hellboy: The Crooked Man is an ill attempted no budget misfire that misses the mark at every single turn.
When talks began of another reboot, fans thought that perhaps we'd see something new or interesting from the franchise. While The Crooked Man did have the full backing of creator Mike Mignola and does have some interesting takes on folk lore, this is an uber cheap looking straight to video release that lacks the most basic story structure and wastes Hellboy throughout. Gone are his smart-ass quips and anything that resembles his character from the comic book. Kesy's version is uncomfortably hard to watch. He just seems miserable, never having any fun with the part.
This is a stripped down, basic rendition that gives us no character arc, no big set pieces, and minimal action sequences that are horribly choreographed. Even the visual effects are tapered back. Everything here is computer generated and lacks any physicality. There are no high stakes with The Crooked Man because nothing feels real or present. There is no threat. Due to budgetary constraints, all the fight scenes are close quarters which makes the movie look even cheaper.
Basically, this is an empty shell of a film that does nothing other than jump from scene to scene with no rhyme or reason. There is no flow in the editing and the main players have no dynamic or reason to exist in this story. Sure, there's a cool opening sequence with a demonic spider which could have set up the rest of the movie. Instead, the idea is just dropped, making the next 90 minutes an absolute snore fest. It's honestly amazing how they could turn such an iconic comic book character into something this boring.
With Guillermo's films there was a real connection between Ron Perlman's Hellboy and the members of his team. There was a reason for them to exist together. And it worked. Director Brian Taylor made a concerted effort here to try and separate his film from the other three, but completely forgot that even at their worst (Marshall, I'm looking at you), the Hellboy movies have all tried to build a dynamic between the title character and his mates.
not really sure if Jack Kesy is an awful actor or if he just wasn't suited to playing this type of role. But this Hellboy is one of the worst of the year and the bottom of the barrel for this franchise as a whole. We implore the studio to let go of this brand and move on to something new. This series is dead.
-CG