Hellboy
Lionsgate | Release Date: April 12, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
31
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 44 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
23
Negative:
19
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
58
The Film StageJared MobarakApr 12, 2019
There’s a cake and eat it too attitude wherein this new iteration of Hellboy wants to simultaneously be trashy and dramatic. Read full review
58
IndieWireEric KohnApr 10, 2019
Perhaps it’s appropriate that the 2019 version of Hellboy is busy to an exhausting degree, overloaded with apocalyptic fears, and seemingly endless in its pileup of twists. But it’s hard to read much into a movie less invested in shrewd observations than in stuffing as much lore as possible into 120 minutes. Read full review
55
Film ThreatLorry KiktaApr 15, 2019
It’s perfectly entertaining, it’s just not going to win any Oscars, but it doesn’t need to, it’s a summer movie for fans of the comic and adults who still feel like kids. If that’s you, go see it! Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerApr 13, 2019
When Hellboy does succeed, it is glorious. Harbour and Jovovich understand this kind of inflated supernatural action, and when it's just them inhabiting the line between two worlds (such as Hellboy's trip to face the child-eating Russian witch, Baba Yaga), or when the narrative is given time to breathe, there's a sense of the movie this could and should have been. Read full review
50
Original-CinJim SlotekApr 11, 2019
This Hellboy looks like the real Hellboy, but its heart and soul have gone AWOL. Read full review
50
ConsequenceBlake GobleApr 10, 2019
Neil Marshall’s Hellboy is a monster mash, loud and proud. Just bring a mop. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubApr 10, 2019
This Hellboy has story problems, with too much exposition and not enough character development. “Stranger Things” actor David Harbour, seemingly a perfect choice for his ability to project melancholy and a luggish humor, isn’t given enough time to do either of those things. Read full review
50
USA TodayBrian TruittApr 10, 2019
This Hellboy leans more into super-gory horror comedy than its predecessors, trading nuance for ripped-off limbs and boasting as much subtlety as a stone fist to the face. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyDarren FranichApr 10, 2019
The best thing I can say is: This is a mess that makes no sense, so it’s a cure for the common overly architected superhero film. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshApr 10, 2019
With this noisy, fast, chaotic "Hellboy," Marshall is at his most cheeky and most unhinged. It's certainly… a lot. Read full review
46
The VergeTasha RobinsonApr 11, 2019
Over the course of two hours, the mania becomes exhausting and numbing. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeApr 10, 2019
Less a thrilling adventure tale than a trip to a teenager’s messy, sock-strewn bedroom. Read full review
40
Total FilmChris ShillingApr 11, 2019
Hell, yeah? Hellish, more like. Despite its lead’s best efforts, this disastrous deboot is a gore-soaked bore. Read full review
40
Rolling StoneDavid FearApr 11, 2019
Hellboy wants to remind you that this Dark Horse Comics brute with a soul still deserves a place in the superhero-movie ecosphere. It ends up simply being a franchise reboot damned to be restaged as its own bloody hell. Some things are better left dead. Read full review
40
EmpireJohn NugentApr 11, 2019
Plenty of shock and gore, and David Harbour is more than worthy to wear the horns. But this is a reboot in need of a reboot. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawApr 10, 2019
It couldn’t be more boring than this. It seems counterintuitive to say it, but there is something pretty soulless about this new Hellboy franchise. Read full review
40
We Got This CoveredMatt DonatoApr 10, 2019
Hellboy feels editorially chopped to bits, tonally disjointed and created from clashing perspectives that make for the type of "dark, gritty" reboot that misunderstands why certain "dark, gritty" reboots end up working. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriApr 10, 2019
It’s inert where it should be fast, and cluttered and choppy where it should be rousing. Which is a shame, because Hellboy, as conceived, is one of the more interesting comic book heroes we have. He deserves better than this. Read full review
40
ScreenCrushMatt SingerApr 10, 2019
Characters repeatedly yell jokes from offscreen or while their backs are turned to the camera. They are, almost without exception, not funny. And they’re indicative of a movie that feels like it was worked and reworked in the editing room almost to its literal death. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangApr 10, 2019
This Hellboy can be something to see. It can also be a giant bore. Read full review
40
VarietyOwen GleibermanApr 10, 2019
It’s lunging to be a badass hard-R epic, but it’s basically a pile of origin-story gobbledygook, frenetic and undercooked, full of limb-hacking, eye-gouging monster battles as well as an atmosphere of apocalyptic grunge that signifies next to nothing. Read full review
40
IGNMeg DowneyApr 10, 2019
Hellboy is a thin, clumsy, and charmless attempt at rebooting a beloved franchise. It's populated by forgettable characters motivated by confusing stakes, cheaply executed visuals, and distracting editing. Somewhere, a finger on a Hellboy fan's monkey's paw is curling up -- sure, HB might finally be back in the spotlight, but he definitely would have been better off left alone. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicScott CravenApr 10, 2019
While the movie is a mess, it can be a fun ride as long as you first put your brain into "do not disturb" mode. Read full review
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