I rarely watch the second trailer of a film I am sold on, but seeing Hellboy with all of its rated R glory, I could not resist. Full of CGI havoc of demons and death with quick quips from our demonic protagonist. A mix of worry and excitement flows through my blood as I am ready for this possibly terrible, entertaining over-the-top adult reboot.
A ritual began to end humanity from the Nazis, some of whom are wearing Swastika 3D glasses, which gives us a glimpse into the origins of Hellboy (David Harbour). Lady Hatton (Sophie Okonedo) tells the large handed hero about how he came to Earth. A nice touch of information that does not give away too much, just enough for newcomers who may not understand what they are about to get themselves into if they buy tickets.
Introductions of Professor Bruttenholm (Ian McShane) as the father of Hellboy, Alice Monaghan (Sasha Lane) as Hellboy’s friend who will help him on his journey, and Ben Daimio (Daniel Dae Kim) a man with powers of a jaguar as the final member in the military organization titled the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense in most of the cast is a part.
After a helicopter ride that looks like too early of footage to put out into the world, we get the introduction of the film’s villain, a sorceress named Nimue the Blood Queen (Milo Jovovich). The Resident Evil star should make for a worthy adversary. While Ian McShane and David Harbour sold me on the cast, but with the addition of Jovovich, I am ecstatic to see the talent bring these characters to life.
A series of conflict while giving some additional story details of the relationship between Hellboy and Nimue. Consistently some scenes look somewhat inconsistent with its visual effects. Some CGI looks spectacular while some looks washed out. Despite some worrying aspects, seeing monsters kill and destroy massive cities and Hellboy blowing enemies to pieces with any method he can achieve makes for one entertaining montage.
Amid all the chaos, some of the powers from other characters are revealed in this trailer. Ben’s jaguar powers come to life while he and Hellboy fight off a giant animalistic entity (looks like it could be part boar, but hard to tell, maybe one of you readers know your animals better).
An epic montage happens again to show off plenty of monsters that will probably end up getting their bodies mangled by one of the heroes. Even with some poorly done CGI here and there, the ones done right look incredible. With the source material laying the groundwork, the creature designs look equally spectacular and terrifying.
Now the blood and guts come in as our hero slashes and guns down everything in his path. One giant monster gets his limbs cut off while another gets its head blown to pieces. One of the last glimpses into this fantasy flick shows Hellboy with a flaming sword and crown riding a dragon into a hell-like landscape to face thousands of demons. Issues may clutter this ride, but at least it will be a bloodbath to keep things rolling.
Some ways the new look into Neil Marshall’s (The Descent) reboot seems more flawed than a grand entry that delivers a rated R experience to fans of the comic. None of the humor shown cracked a smile on my face, and a lot of the practical and special effects look poor for a blockbuster. My hopes might have gone down, but they are still high in the idea of an entertaining adventure that may not rate as the best film in a review. We will see when it comes.
Hellboy releases April 12
Images via Lionsgate and Millennium Films
Tristan Zelden 