Hellboy put David Harbour into the role of the titular Dark Horse hero, but that was its only success. Harbour is great in the role, but the Stranger Things star can’t save the project. Hellboy had the unenviable task of following Guillermo del Toro’s adaptations of Mike Mignola’s comics. It suffered with critics, audiences, and the box office. Though most quickly forgot the 2019 superhero reboot, Hellboy reached seventh place on Netflix’s international top ten list.
Hellboy Brings David Harbour’s Half-Demon Hero To Netflix’s Top Ten
I wouldn’t want to follow Ron Perlman in just about anything. In Hellboy, David Harbour takes on the role Ron Perlman elevated from an obscure cult hit comic into an iconic big-screen hero. We talk often about the successes in Marvel’s casting decisions. Robert Downey Jr. and Iman Vellani sometimes feel like they walked off the page. Ron Perlman belongs in that conversation. David Harbour doesn’t deliver the same effortlessly note-perfect performance, but he’s still excellent. Hellboy is the best part of Hellboy (2019.) The plot depicts Red battling his internal demons as a freshly resurrected Blood Queen readies the end of days. The first act drowns the viewer in a needlessly complex backstory that never seems to end. Action sequences, character introductions, and slapstick jokes fall flat. It lacks imagination and drive, especially next to Guillermo del Toro’s entries. It’s a tragedy worthy of a Hellboy-style binge.
Despite David Harbour’s best efforts, Hellboy made $55.1 million on a $50 million budget. Conventional box office wisdom suggests doubling the production budget to account for marketing. That implies a loss of at least $44.9 million for Lionsgate. Critics savaged Hellboy, branding it with a scathing 17% positive score from 224 reviews. Audiences offered some praise but still left it Rotten with a 48% positive score. Director Neil Marshall, known for Dog Soldiers, The Descent, and two of Game of Thrones‘ best episodes, earned endless negative comparisons to del Toro. David Harbour was the only celebrated performer, save a few scant positive notes for Milla Jovovich. Its current rise on Netflix comes from viewers in Latin America and the Caribbean. Jamaica has the highest placement, keeping Hellboy in the #2 national spot. I can only hope the people of those nations find something to love where critics didn’t.
Last March, Millennium Media and Dark Horse Entertainment put the final nail in David Harbour’s Hellboy‘s coffin. Hellboy: The Crooked Man is the second reboot of the live-action franchise which finished production last May. Tom Kesy, best known as Gabriel Bolivar in The Strain or Black Tom Cassidy in Deadpool 2, will be Hollywood’s third Hellboy. Brian Taylor, of Crank series fame, will direct from a script by comics creators Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden. Hellboy (2019) will never lead to anything, but its legacy lives on in some small way. Not every superhero movie lives up to its destiny.
