11-10-2024

Hellboy: The Crooked Man

Review by Cultist Media
October 11, 2024

Some spoilers! But since this takes place earlier than the other films, you can kind of guess Hellboy isn’t going to die in this one… or is he?

Introduction: The Unexpected Surprise

When I first heard about a new Hellboy movie, I didn’t believe it. I saw a trailer pop up on YouTube, and at first, I assumed it was one of those fan-made trailers people often present as official. In fact, I almost skipped it, thinking it was fake. I didn’t know a new Hellboy movie was even planned, let alone produced.

After watching the first few seconds of the trailer, I felt it was fan-made—it had that low-budget vibe, similar to the Viking Wolverine fan film. Not terrible, but lacking studio polish. I appreciated the effort but wasn’t expecting much. Then, after reading up on it, I realized this was actually an official Hellboy movie. My excitement dropped immediately. Still, I was planning to watch it, albeit with low expectations (though, to my dismay, it didn’t get a wide cinematic release).

Expectations vs. Reality

Last night, I finally watched it through VOD, and it gave me exactly what I expected in the first few minutes—low-budget, fan-film vibes. But then, surprisingly, things took a turn for the better. The movie wasn’t as bad as I feared, and as it progressed, it actually felt like a proper Hellboy film.

The biggest surprise was the fact that it almost arrived out of nowhere. Unlike most big franchises where you’re left waiting for years, this Hellboy movie popped up with barely any warning. In a world where I constantly check on the status of franchises like Batman, Sin City, and Ghostbusters, it was refreshing to have a movie just appear like that. More franchises should do this!

The Review: What Worked and What Didn’t

The Bad

Let’s start with the negatives, as they hit right away. The movie initially feels like a low-budget fan film. The color grading in the daytime scenes was off—the air looks reddish through the trees, but not due to the time of day. It just looked like a bad color choice, as if the contrast wasn’t quite right. A bit more black would have added depth. This improved later in the film, especially during the evening scenes with the witches, where it started to feel more like a studio production.

At times, the focus seemed misplaced, particularly on the train. It felt like the wrong character was in focus, as if they were trying to highlight someone with limited screen time while they still had a chance to do so. Story-wise, the pacing was uneven, with no strong build-up. For example, the church battle scene felt more like a final showdown. If the final battle and church scenes had been swapped, it would have made more sense.

The Good

Now for the positives. Jack Kesy’s portrayal of Hellboy was interesting, especially because his face was more visible than previous iterations. This made Hellboy feel more human, and his emotions were clearer. I’m not saying Kesy is necessarily better than Ron Perlman or David Harbour, but this version felt refreshing, even if it took some getting used to.

The chapter index in the film gave it a graphic novel feel, which I really enjoyed. Also, the title of the movie projected in red onto the environment had a low-budget, slasher-film vibe, but surprisingly, it worked well and looked cool.

The comedy, while cheesy, landed well. It didn’t feel forced like it sometimes does in Marvel or the newer Ghostbusters movies. For example, Bobbie Jo Song’s terrible imitation of Hellboy was funny precisely because it was so bad.

Continuity-wise, nothing glaring jumped out at me on the first watch, which is a good sign for a film of this scale.

Technical Review

While I’ve already touched on some technical aspects, here’s a deeper dive into a few key points:

Visuals: As mentioned, the early scenes felt low-budget due to poor color grading, but once night fell and the action kicked in, the movie started to look and feel more polished. The CGI wasn’t fantastic, but I tend to prefer less of it anyway.

Focus and Cinematography: There were moments where the camera seemed to focus on the wrong character, especially in scenes like the train. It felt like a strange decision, but maybe it was intentional to highlight characters with limited roles.

Story Structure: The pacing was off, and the order of events felt jumbled. The battle scenes, in particular, felt out of sequence, as if the church scene should’ve come later in the movie.

Conclusion: A Pleasant Surprise

In the end, Hellboy: The Crooked Man wasn’t abandoned, which is a win in itself. It wasn’t a terrific movie, but it was better than expected, especially given the trailers. If you go in with low expectations and just want to enjoy some Hellboy action, it’s worth a watch. It won’t blow you away, but it’ll entertain you if you have nothing better to do.

The Score

I’m going to offer two scores, since this movie can be judged differently depending on how you view it:

- As a studio cinematic release: 60%
- As a B-movie or streaming original: 90%