Hellboy (David Harbour) was not naturally born of this world but he was raised to fight for it as if it was his own. Professor Broom (Ian McShane) raised him as his own as well as assist in unlocking his all-powerful potential. When an ancient evil (Milla Jovovich) returns to bring the world to its knees, it’ll be up to Hellboy and a couple of new companions (Sasha Lane and Daniel Dae Kim) to save the world as we know it. This task won’t be easy as The Blood Queen and her minions will stop at nothing to bring on the end of days.

Hellboy is definitely one of those movies that won’t be for everyone. To put in more bluntly, it won’t be for the majority. There is a finite audience for the writer-artist Mike Mignola’s creation, and the production companies and distributors behind this reboot will most likely learn an expensive lesson. In a day and age when superhero films consistently rule the box office, you have to come with something strong if you are hoping to make a meaningful splash. With arguably the most epic film in this genre about to be released in two short weeks, and yes I’m talking about Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame, the window for financial gain is already slamming shut. Combine that with the continued success of DC’s Shazam! and you may as well start reading this one its last rites.

All of that aside, director Neil Marshall doesn’t do himself any favors here Hellboy. With The Descent (2006) being his best work by far, expectations should be tempered going in. David Harbour may be a semi-hot commodity thanks to the success of Netflix’s Stranger Things, he’s simply not on par with Ron Perlman, who was devilishly dashing in the 2004 and 2008 feature-films. Harbour can only do so much so this isn’t really his fault. It’s more of a collective effort of ineptness from the writing outward.

While fast starts and action-packed sequences can be appreciated, when you cram in scene after scene of anything, audiences soon become numb to what you’re attempting to put on display. That’s where Hellboy falters the most, as there just aren’t enough ebbs and flows. As for the gratuitous violence throughout, I’m okay with that portion in terms of the volume but does seem a bit redundant and pointless at times.

With Ian McShane, Milla Jovovich and Daniel Dae Kim on the roster, you’d assume that quality supporting acting would be a given. That does not appear to be the case. Potentials were definitely not realized here. Hellboy is a fun feature at times and a faulty flub at others. The R-rating is well deserved, as is my recommendation to steer clear of this smoke joke. If you’ve got money and two hours to burn, I suppose you could check this one out in theaters.