HELLBOY : Tuesday 16th April 2019.

'HELLBOY' which I saw this week is a reboot of a franchise that first launched back in 2004 when Writer and Director Guillermo del Toro first brought us his rendition of the Dark Horse Comics Graphic Novel 'Hellboy' starring Ron Perlman in the title role as an immensely powerful Demon who works for the governmental organisation, the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defence (B.P.R.D.). That initial instalment was generally well received by Critics and took US$100M at the Box Office off the back of a US$66M production budget. Then four years later in 2008 Guillermo del Toro returned to the Directors chair with 'Hellboy II : The Golden Army' with Ron Perlman once again portraying our titular hero. That film was equally well received by Critics and scored US$161M off the back of a US$85 budget. Then in 2009 a third instalment was in development with del Toro returning once more to helm a film titled 'Hellboy III : Dark Worlds'. However, due to funding challenges that film was subsequently scrapped, in favour of this reboot which was released last week. Directed this time around by Neil Marshall whose previous film making credits include 'Dog Soldiers', 'The Descent', 'Centurion' and two episodes of 'Game of Thrones', this film stars David Harbour in the title role, after Ron Perlman refused to return to the franchise without del Toro's involvement. So far this film has recouped US$26M of its US$50M production budget and has received generally negative Reviews.

During World War II, Hellboy as an infant child was summoned from Hell by Nazis looking for an edge in the latter days of the war. He was instead adopted by the US, and raised under the auspices of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defence (an agency founded by Hellboy's adoptive father Trevor Bruttenholm, played by Ian McShane) to help fend off paranormal threats. One such threat comes in the form of an ancient medieval sorceress named Nimue, the Queen of Blood (Milla Jovovich) who was betrayed by her coven, beheaded by King Arthur and dismembered by both Merlin and his King in fifth century England. King Arthur then ordered that the various parts of Nimue's body - her head, her arms, her legs and torso be secured in separate iron crates and taken to various far reaching parts of England never to be unearthed again.

We then fast forward to England via Tijuana where the now adult Hellboy (David Harbour) gets into a wrestling match with a former colleague that has turned Vampire. Hellboy reluctantly kills the Vampire in the ring by impaling him on a post, and in his last dying moments turns back into his human form warning that the apocalypse is coming.

A few weeks later, Hellboy returns to the B.P.R.D HQ in America whereupon he is dispatched to England by his father, and in particular the Osiris Club (an ancient English outfit dedicated to uncovering supernatural mysteries) to hunt down and dispense with three giants who have been running amok across the English countryside. Hellboy joins the giant hunters but is ultimately betrayed by them in an ambush. However, the giants arrive and slaughter the hunters leaving Hellboy to fend off the giants and overthrow each of them, which he does of course using his particular set of skills.

In the meantime, Gruagach (Stephen Graham and Douglas Tait), a hog like beast who has a score to settle with Hellboy seeks advice from Baba Yaga (Emma Tate and Troy James), a one eyed ancient witch who lives in a house propped up by chicken legs, who suggests restoring Nimue to her all powerful former self by reconnecting each of her body parts. Baba Yaga knows of the secret location  of where her head is housed, and once secured the awoken Nimue will reveal after 1500 years where her other body parts are located.

After falling unconscious following his battle with the three giants Hellboy comes around in the apartment of Alice Monaghan (Sasha Lane), whom he shares a connection with since her childhood, when she was kidnapped by fairies and subsequently acquired powerful skills as a medium. Bruttenholm descends upon the apartment with a SWAT Team and reveals that someone has located Nimue's remains and will more than likely find her last piece housed at the Osiris Club. Heading up the SWAT Team is M11 Agent Ben Daimio (Daniel Dae Kim), whom Hellboy now joins forces with, aided by Alice with her very own particular set of skills.

Upon arriving at the Osiris Club, the three find everyone well and truly slaughtered. Alice connects with the lifeless body of the clubs resident seer Lady Hatton (Sophie Okonedo), whose spirit is still present. Her spirit manifested through Alice reveals that Nimue has plans to find a King so that they can together raise the apocalypse. In the corridors of the building Hellboy runs into Gruagach holding onto Nimue's dismembered lower arm. Gruagach escapes however, after Hellboy is distracted by a vision of Nimue appealing to the powerful force that they could be together.

Daimio takes them to M11's headquarters, located deep underground in an old WWII bunker once used by Winston Churchill, and secretly hidden under a fish and chip shop. While Daimio secretly acquires a special bullet to kill Hellboy when the opportunity presents itself, Hellboy has a heated exchange of words with Bruttonholm over his 'adoption' and upbringing. Dissatisfied with the answer, Hellboy leaves but is magically transported to Baba Yaga's house - the one that walks on chicken legs. In exchange for an eye, the ancient witch reveals the location where Nimue plans to restore herself - the site of an ancient oak tree high up on craggy outcrop at Pendle Hill - the very place where she was slain by King Arthur and Merlin centuries ago. Hellboy reneges on the agreement to give up an eye, and Baba Yaga curses him.

At Pendle Hill Nimue has assembled with Gruagach and her coven of witches which she kills all but one. Hellboy, Alice and Daimio make haste for Pendle Hill only to be confronted by an army of the dead rising up to thwart them. Leaving Alice and Daimio to fend off their undead attackers, Hellboy makes haste to the old oak tree, where he is subdued by Nimue. In making her escape after Alice and Daimio arrive, Nimue poisons Alice with a thorn taken from her crown. 

The surviving witch directs the team to Merlin, believing that only he can save her. Finding Merlin hidden deep within a remote coastal cave system, the old wizard is woken from centuries of slumber and cures Alice. He then tells Hellboy that his mother was human and a direct descendant of King Arthur. As such, Merlin (Brian Gleeson) offers him Excalibur, but Hellboy refuses it after seeing a vision of himself using the sword to raise the apocalypse. Nimue meanwhile attacks London with her plague-like powers, and later unleashes all manner of demons to wreak havoc and mayhem across the capital city violently killing many in the process.

The three return to M11 headquarters, where they find everyone dead and Bruttenholm missing. They reach St Paul's Cathedral, where Nimue is in hiding, and to be confronted by Gruagach. Daimio, who earlier revealed to Alice that when he was a soldier deep in some dense jungle territory tracking down a man hunting animal that he was the sole survivor of a were-jaguar attack which left him permanently scarred to his face. Seeing Hellboy and Graugach go head to head, Daimio transforms into his jaguar form and jumps to support Hellboy in the fight. Nimue kills Graugach and then pleads with Hellboy to side with her. 

After he refuses, she sends him crashing down into a hidden crypt, revealing King Arthur's tomb and Excalibur, partially encased in stone. After Nimue kills Bruttenholm, Hellboy pulls Excalibur, causing him to assume his true form. Nimue further appeals to Hellboy, but Alice channels Bruttenholm's spirit, who manifests itself and appeals to Hellboy's inner sense of humanity. Hellboy then decapitates Nimue, sending all the demons and Nimue's head back to the very depths of hell. Hellboy and Bruttenholm exchange their final farewells, and Daimio tosses away the bullet he had manufactured to kill Hellboy. 

Lobster Johnson (Thomas Haden Church) is a vigilante who has a reputation for violence, such as killing mobsters and burning his trademark lobster claw symbol into their foreheads with the palm of his gloved hand. Lobster was there when the Nazi's summonsed the young Hellboy in the closing days of WWII, and helped thwart, together with Trevor Bruttonholm, the Nazi's plan. The ghost of Lobster also appears to Hellboy in a mid credits sequence as he mourns his late father by his graveside comforted by a bottle of his favourite whisky. Watch out too for an end credits scene involving Baba Yaga. 

I have to say that I was underwhelmed by this version of 'Hellboy'. Once you get past the extreme violence, the viscera, the entrails, the blood, guts and gore, the hacked limbs, the gouged eyes and the almost relentless carnage which I guess is all delivered in the context of a mightily pissed off demonic centuries old queen, the storyline here is disjointed, most of the humour fails to land, and ultimately it's all (CGI rendered) style over substance. The film moves along at a frenetic pace from one action set piece to the next giving the viewer hardly time to catch up on the plot with its gaping holes and impossible time lines. David Harbour puts in a convincing performance as does Milla Jovovich and Daniel Dae Kim, but I am left wondering what Ian McShane was thinking, and the CGI and creature effects are mostly delivered well, but those are the only redeeming features in this sub-par offering when compared to del Toro's earlier offerings.

'Hellboy' merits two claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 11th April 2019.

In just a couple of weeks the most highly anticipated, eagerly awaited and much hyped film of 2019 will hit our movie theatres, with expectations already reaching fever pitch. As if you didn't already know it, the direct sequel to 2018's 'Avengers: Infinity War', a sequel to 2012's 'The Avengers' and 2015's 'Avengers: Age of Ultron', and the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe 'Avengers : Endgame' will arrive at an Odeon near you on 25th April.

Following on immediately from where 'Infinity War' left off the film picks up after half of all life in the universe was killed due to the actions of Thanos once he had amassed all six infinity stones and placed them strategically in his Infinity Gauntlet. The remaining Avengers and their allies must reassemble to revert those actions in one final stand to restore balance to the universe and save all humanity.

With an ensemble cast that consists all of our much loved superheroes and a few nefarious intergalactic villains too, and the conclusion of eleven years of MCU story telling that has so successfully interwoven individual standalone films with cross-over episodes to drive a franchise that we're invested in, Box Office records could well & truly be smashed here. On April 4, industry tracking projected the film would gross US$200–250 million in the US during its opening weekend, although some insiders saw those figures as conservative and expect a $260–300 million debut, with  a potential worldwide debut of approaching US$850M. The first trailer of the film released in December 2018 generated 289 million views in its first 24 hours, and the second trailer released in March 2019 garnered 268 millions views in its first 24 hours. Advance ticket sales seem to indicate that this blockbuster is going to be huge, with the potential to top the worldwide Box Office takings of US$2.05B as seen for 'Infinity War'. At a running time of three hours and two minutes, strap yourselves in for a wild ride as Thanos faces off against all the might and power that the Avengers and their allies can muster. Can't wait!

This week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, we have five new cinematic releases coming your way. Kicking off with the third instalment in this graphic novel franchise that returns with a new Director at the helm and a new Actor playing our titular summonsed from the very depths of Hell lead character, to battle an ancient sorceress intent on destroying life as we know it. This is followed up by a 1946 set just post-WWII drama about an English couple relocating themselves to Hamburg to help rebuild the war torn city to find themselves shacking up with a German widower in his grand home - a situation that has a profound impact on each of them. We then turn to a drama film about a pre-school teacher who comes to realise that one of her young pupils is a child prodigy and over time tries to nurture his talents - but at what costs ultimately to herself, the boy and his parents? Then, next up is a fantasy comedy offering about a ruthless corporate executive who one day finds herself reliving her life as her younger self; and we then wrap up the week with an Aussie feel good sporting offering about a teenage girl caught in the wrong place at the right time and how she uses her science skills to overcome adversity in a soccer final.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the five latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.

'HELLBOY' (Rated R18+) - in 2004 Writer and Director Guillermo del Toro first brought us his rendition of the Dark Horse Comics Graphic Novel 'Hellboy' starring Ron Perlman in the title role as an immensely powerful Demon who works for the governmental organisation Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defence. That initial instalment was generally well received by Critics and is took US$100M at the Box Office off the back of a US$66M production budget. Then four years later in 2008 Guillermo del Toro returned to the Directors chair with 'Hellboy II : The Golden Army' with Ron Perlman once again portraying our titular hero. That film was equally well received by Critics and scored US$161M off the back of a US$85 budget. Then in 2009 a third instalment was in development with del Toro returning once more to helm a film titled 'Hellboy III : Dark Worlds'. However, due to funding challenges that film was subsequently scrapped, in favour of this reboot which is released this week. Directed this time around by Neil Marshall whose previous film making credits include 'Dog Soldiers', 'The Descent', 'Centurion' and two episodes of 'Game of Thrones'. This film stars David Harbour in the title role, after Ron Perlman refused to return to the franchise without del Toro's involvement.

And so to this story. During World War II, Hellboy (David Harbour) was summoned from Hell by Nazis looking for an edge in the latter days of the war. He was instead adopted by the US, and raised under the auspices of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defence (an agency founded by Hellboy's adoptive father Trevor Bruttenholm, played by Ian McShane) to help fend off paranormal threats. One such threat comes in the form of an ancient medieval sorceress named Nimue, the Queen of Blood (Milla Jovovich) who has risen, and is threatening to wipe out London by turning everyone to dust and laying the nations capital to siege while unleashing an evil most foul. Also starring Sasha Lane, Daniel Dae Kim and Thomas Haden Church.

'THE AFTERMATH' (Rated M) - this drama film is Directed by James Kent and is based on the 2013 book of the same name by Welsh novelist and Screenwriter Rhidian Brook. The film saw its Premier screening at the Glasgow Film Festival in late February, went on release in the UK on 1st March, in the US on 15th March and has so far collected less that US$4M at the Box Office. Now it gets a run in Australia from this week. Set in the aftermath of a postwar Germany in 1946, Rachael Morgan (Keira Knightley) arrives in the bombed out ruins of Hamburg in the middle of a bitterly cold winter, to be reunited with her husband Lewis (Jason Clarke), a Colonel of the British Forces Germany tasked with rebuilding the broken city. As they set off for their new home however, Rachael is stunned to learn that Lewis has made the unexpected decision that they will be sharing their grand new home with its former owners, a German widower Stefan Lubert (Alexander Skarsgard) and his troubled daughter. In this fraught atmosphere, hostility and grief ultimately pave the way to passion and betrayal. The film has so far receive mixed or average Reviews.

'THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER' (Rated M) - Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival back in January 2018, released in the USA in mid-October last year, and now getting a limited release in Australia, this drama film is Directed by Sara Colangelo and is based on the 2014 Israeli film of the same name. Here Lisa Spinelli (Maggie Gyllenhaal), is a kindergarten teacher from Staten Island, who struggles with feelings of dissatisfaction in her life. Lisa attends a poetry class every week chaired by Simon (Gael García Bernal), but her poetry is dismissed as derivative. One of Lisa's students, Jimmy (Parker Sevak) is regularly collected late from school by the babysitter. One day, as Jimmy waits to be picked up, Lisa overhears him reciting a poem he wrote. Lisa reads the poem at her poetry class, where her fellow classmates and Simon are struck by it and compliment Lisa on her poetic talent. Lisa thereafter decides that Jimmy is a prodigy, and begins to dedicate her time to nurturing his talent, but at what cost ultimately? Also starring Rosa Salazar, the film has generated generally favourable Reviews.

'LITTLE' (Rated PG) - this American fantasy comedy offering is Directed and Co-Written by Tina Gordon, cost US$20M and is released Stateside this week too. In it, a ruthless tech mogul, Jordan Sanders (Regina Hall) soon faces an unexpected threat to both her personal life and her working career when she is given the opportunity to relive the life of her younger thirteen year old self (Marsai Martin) at a time in her life when the pressures of adulthood become too much for her to bear after a girl she offended wishes she was little. Jordan receives help from her overworked and long suffering Personal Assistant, April (Issa Rae), to find a way to return her boss to her normal self.

'BACK OF THE NET' (Rated G) - here we have another true blue Aussie sporting offering that sees the underdog wrong kid in the wrong place at the right time. Directed by Louise Alston, this film charts the story of young teenage science geek Cory Bailey (Sofia Wylie) who gets on the wrong bus and winds up at The Harold Soccer Academy instead of The Harold Academy Australian Semester at Sea. Like a fish outta water Cory must stay put while her parents are overseas volunteering in India. It's not long before Cory makes friends at her new temporary home, but she butts heads with Evie (Tiarnie Coupland) who just so happens to be the academy's star soccer player.  When Cory learns that the Academy is playing host to a National Soccer Championship, Cory is determined to pitch her scientific prowess and her own teams various soccer skills to beat Evie at her own game and get her shot at the tournament finals.

With five new release movies this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-