It’s always a refreshing change of pace when a superhero movie that isn’t Marvel or DC feels both epic, expansive, and unique. And that was certainly the case for this comic book adaptation that was brought to life by one of the most prolific directors of our time. It was dark; it was nuanced; it was different from anything else coming out at the time, and it still maintains that same gritty yet somehow whimsical feel. If an antihero and a fairy tale had a baby, it would be this movie. So you’d better catch it while you can before it leaves Netflix at the end of the month.
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Hellboy was originally a comic book series created by Mike Mignola and published by Dark Horse Comics all the way back in 1993. A little more than a decade later, in 2004, the story was adapted for film by none other than Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein, Pacific Rim, Crimson Peak), and it proved to be a wholly unique and slightly gothic spin on the superhero genre, giving audiences more of an antihero along the lines of Eric Draven than the Captain America-esque heroes they’d grown used to.
Hellboy Brought Something Totally New to Our Screens
There’s really no other way to sum it up: Hellboy is weird. But we mean that in the best way possible. The movie is set toward the end of World War II, with the Nazi’s attempting to harness supernatural powers to win the war. They open a portal in hopes of summoning massive forces to turn the tides, but instead summon a single demon—a baby, who is then adopted by the Allied forces. As the decades pass, that baby, now named Hellboy, serves as an agent in the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense alongside Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), a merman with psychic powers, and Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), a woman with pyrokinesis. Their goal? To keep America safe from the paranormal forces that threaten it.
For being a movie that’s gone down in history as a cult classic, Hellboy performed surprisingly well with critics, earning an 81% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes thanks to its slower, more thoughtful pace. That isn’t to say it’s at all short on action; while it isn’t a thrill-a-minute, the action-filled moments hit hard. Critic Brian Eggert sums it up best, saying, “The experience rewards with palpable craft embedded into each facet, from character development to special effects. It’s treated like a majestic opus by a master filmmaker.”
Will you be catching Hellboy before Netflix gives it the boot at the end of June? What’s your favorite moment from the film? Let us know in the comments! And don’t forget to see what’s going on over at the ComicBook forum.
