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[TaterTots]

Today, I decided to give Hellboy(2004) a shot and I really dug it, enough so that I immediately watched the 2008 sequel and loved it. It's a step above the first one imo. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that my fiance and I are going to watch it together tonight and I ordered Hellboy vol 1. However, I feel like no one talks about these films when talking about "comic book movies." Why is that? Are they underrated or do other people genuinely not enjoy them? I'd already put Hellboy 2 in my top 5.

 

[BruceCLea]

Great fun. Perlman rocks. Some of the best special effects still. Unreal makeup and costumes too.

Love em.

 

[Temeculan3000]

They were appreciated when they came out but I feel like with the overabundance of comic book movies we have now they have been sort of forgotten.

 

[RumbleHumble]

They're super fun. I feel Hellboy II get's a little too long for its own good, but they're both far better than the usual comic-book fare.

 

[eXistor]

Kind of, but not really? I didn't care much for the first but Iliked the second. Hardly remember anything about either of them though and don't particularly feel like watching them again.

 

[elrechazado]

They are bad, particularly the second one. I'd personally say overrated. The first one at least has a few moments of style, but overall poor, forgettable movies.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

They're alright. I was super into them and the animated films when they came out. But it was slim pickings for comic stuff back then. I don't remember being impressed when I caught them on FX a few years ago.

 

[smoothj]

They're not as underrated as you want them to be. Never liked them personaly.

 

[Col WillieSharp]

I LOVE The Golden Army, and convinced myself for a minute that it was the best superhero of 2008

Spoiler

Dark Knight is tho

. That fight with the forest god after the Troll market scene was sort of beautiful.

 

[Sephzilla]

They're appreciated at the right level in my opinion.

 

[ApharmdX]

I liked the Hellboy movies. They had personality and genuine charm. Both the MCU and the DCEU could use more of both.

I LOVE The Golden Army, and convinced myself for a minute that it was the best superhero of 2008

Spoiler

Dark Knight is tho

. That fight with the forest god after the Troll market scene was sort of beautiful.

That fight was really neat stuff. Unexpected beauty.

 

[Dead]

Golden Army was the best cape flick of 2008

 

[kitschykitty]

Thought the first one was a lot of fun, something my dad and I would watch whenever it was on TV. I remember watching the second one with my dad when it came out and at the end we just turned to each other and went "well that was terrible". I was shocked at how high the rotten tomatoes was for the second one, it might have been the first time I realized that a high rt score doesn't mean it's a good movie (at least to me).

 

[SpaceWolf]

Red and Abe drunkenly howling along to Barry Manilow literally remains the most under-rated moment in the history of comic book movies.

 

[HyperZone<3]

first one is alright, the sequel is fantastic. Both films have some of the best practical effects of any post-2000 film.

hell, they've even got great fight scenes in both of them, the sequel especially. Considering that Ron Perelman was old as hell and under mountains of prosthetics its amazing what they pulled off.

 

[The Hermit]

Red and Abe drunkenly howling along to Barry Manilow literally remains the most under-rated moment in the history of comic book movies.

It's such a fun movie.

I think people wanted dark gritty super heroes movie at that time, so it kinda fell off.

Now every marvel movie is full of quips and funny scenes.

 

[TaterTots]

Red and Abe drunkenly howling along to Barry Manilow literally remains the most under-rated moment in the history of comic book movies.

Golden Army was loaded full of charmful moments that I feel the MCU is going for. The singing, the goofy locker scene, the scene with the big plant, Hulk punching an old lady in the face.

Spoiler

old lady was a troll

 

[TylerDurden4321]

I think a lot of people who see the movies and know they're based on a comic have no idea that the comics are on a really different level from your normal superhero comics.

drawing with so few and so hard-edgy lines and no color gradients is super hard. And then the stories are en par with the best Witcher 3 stuff but with some superhero brawling and humor infused into it.

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

This is the first time I heard someone called those films underrated.

 

[TaterTots]

I think a lot of people who see the movies and know they're based on a comic have no idea that the comics are on a really different level from your normal superhero comics.

drawing with so few and so hard-edgy lines and no color gradients is super hard. And then the stories are en par with the best Witcher 3 stuff but with some superhero brawling and humor infused into it.

I've never read a Hellboy comic in my life, but those movies sparked my interest enough to order one and give it a shot. If they are better than the movies, or at least on par, I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

 

[Sulik2]

04 Hellboy kind of sucks. The Golden Army is a fantastic movie though.

 

[Sojgat]

They're both good, but they're no Blade 2.

 

[Geist-]

I LOVE The Golden Army, and convinced myself for a minute that it was the best superhero of 2008

Spoiler

Dark Knight is tho

. That fight with the forest god after the Troll market scene was sort of beautiful.

2008 was the best year for comic movies. We also had Iron Man, arguably the GOAT marvel movie (imho).

 

[CaviarMeths]

Both movies reviewed quite positively and are well-liked within the fanbase.

So not underrated at all, really.

They're both good, but they're no Blade 2.

This might be a better example of an 'underrated' comic book movie. It reviewed poorly, but years later people are still listing it as one of their favorite CBMs, so maybe critics are missing something. Or it's another BvS.

 

[.la1n]

They weren't up the level of the comics but I was still thoroughly impressed by what GDT managed to pull off. Perlman was made to play that part.

 

[NealMcCauley]

I liked Hellboy explaining relationships to a child while sharing milk and cookies. Both movies had a very off beat sense of humor.

 

[LiK]

They were fun and was pretty faithful for the most part. The comics were darker but I liked Del Toro's look and designs for it.

 

[inky]

I think they are a bit underrated, maybe people wanted darker and more realistic or more action heavy at the time I guess. Or maybe they are dismissed out of hand by people unfamiliar with them. They were sent out to die in theaters, but did great numbers in home video, so there is definitely an audience that enjoyed them a lot.

I love them.

 

[Platy]

Hellboy 2 is the Mario Galaxy 1+2 of movie art direction.

That troll market scene has more creativity and Awesome designs than most director's entire filmography

 

[Zap Rowsdower]

You should check out the two animated movies next. They're set in their own universe separate from both the live-action movies and the comic, (i.e. Professor Broom isn't killed off early on and becomes a part of the main cast, Liz is a teenager that looks up to Hellboy like an older brother, etc.) but both are really good just like almost everything else Hellboy. They were originally a lead up to an animated series which unfortunately never came to pass.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

awesome and super underrated movies. good stuff

 

[Sgt. Kabukiman]

Really fun films. In retrospect, Hellboy 2 might be my favorite superhero film of 2008. Maybe not as good as The Dark Knight but more coherent and willing to embrace its mythology. Too bad it got so overshadowed by the competition.

And I always found it weird that Del Toro was such a massive fan of the comics and yet he took his adaptations in a completely different direction tonally. I mean, they're basically fantasy romances. Not a criticism, I love both the comics and the films, I just find it funny.

 

[Warm Machine]

Del Toro movies mostly have me feeling distant and disconnected to them as they are going on. I think his best movie is The Devil's Backbone.

 

[TaterTots]

Del Toro and Perlman were pushing for a 3rd movie to wrap things up, but couldn't get the budget they wanted, so studios were like, we'll just reboot it.

 

[sn00zer]

First felt like it had way too much studio interference, as exemplified by the one character whose only job was to ask question.

Second is fantastic

 

[Donniewahlberg]

For my own part I'm not only a massive Mignolaverse fan in terms of the comics, but a really big fan of GDT's career too and I'm not a fan of the movies at all really. They take liberties with the characters to a point where I can't really engage or dig into them as Hellboy movies, nor do I find them much better than just fine as regular fantasy flicks, certainly not on the level of Pan's labyrinth etc.

I won't rag on them deeply since OP is obviously a fan and soliciting for likeminded individuals and I'm totally down with that, love what you love, but a really pet peeve is giving characters really *zany quirks*. Hellboy loves cats and sweeties (and Liz?), Abe loves eggs and classical music etc. Mignola's folklore soaked mythos and the BPRD apocalyptic investigations are my favourite runs in comic books so it was a shame the movies were so far removed - although I imagine it has done wonders for the property's profile.

Old HB could at least have had a love for pancakes I also totally agree with the poster that recommended the animated movies, they're pretty awesome and one if them adapts heads!

 

[IrishNinja]

i love em, even if 2 missed some notes. can't wait for the next.

the animated ones were also fantastic, wish we had more of those!

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

they are rated correctly

 

[TaterTots]

For my own part I'm not only a massive Mignolaverse fan in terms of the comics, but a really big fan of GDT's career too and I'm not a fan of the movies at all really. They take liberties with the characters to a point where I can't really engage or dig into them as Hellboy movies, nor do I find them much better than just fine as regular fantasy flicks, certainly not on the level of Pan's labyrinth etc.

I won't rag on them deeply since OP is obviously a fan and soliciting for likeminded individuals and I'm totally down with that, love what you love, but a really pet peeve is giving characters really *zany quirks*. Hellboy loves cats and sweeties (and Liz?), Abe loves eggs and classical music etc. Mignola's folklore soaked mythos and the BPRD apocalyptic investigations are my favourite runs in comic books so it was a shame the movies were so far removed - although I imagine it has done wonders for the property's profile.

Old HB could at least have had a love for pancakes I also totally agree with the poster that recommended the animated movies, they're pretty awesome and one if them adapts heads!

You can talk shit about them if you want. Personally, I haven't read any of the comics, but the movies caused me to order one. Hopefully, its as good. Here's what I ordered;

https://www.amazon.com/Hellboy-Book-Figure-Boxed-Set/dp/1596176040/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1503529222&sr=8-5&keywords=hellboy+statue

 

[Donniewahlberg]

You can talk shit about them if you want. Personally, I haven't read any of the comics, but the movies caused me to order one. Hopefully, its as good. Here's what I ordered;

https://www.amazon.com/Hellboy-Book-Figure-Boxed-Set/dp/1596176040/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1503529222&sr=8-5&keywords=hellboy+statue

Haha that's awesome! Just be warned, I have an equivalent of that set for another series (the umbrella Academy) and the HC is a mini book, so it's quite a bit smaller than your average trade, not sure how that will be to read, but I hope you enjoy definitely come share your thoughts in the comic OT over in off topic, there's quite a few big HB comic fans over there.

And that's exactly what I was at least trying to say in terms of the movies raising the comic's profile; I honestly find it a really awkward mix of two my favourite things but if it gets eyes on the comics that's a huge boon and very valuable. I've totally down with that.

 

[AndyVirus]

Best use of a Barry Manilow song ever.

I really enjoy them, the second especially.

 

[shintoki]

Trash, specifically the 2nd one that doesn't have a single original thought to it.

 

[Fancyarcher]

A fan of both films. They're visually wonderful, and their stories are great. Also Perlman is perfectly cast.

I've also read the comics and while I agree that the stories aren't the best portrayed, in fact the clear audience created surrogate character that Rupert Evans plays in the first film is one of my least favorite films about that film. I still think they do an admirable enough job of bringing Mignola's vision visually speaking to the big-screen.

 

[sixteen-bit]

I'm mad they're rebooting it tbh. I want part 3.

 

[Spectral Glider]

I really liked the first one, but thought the second was meh.

 

[shaneo632]

Still really baffling to me that the first one even got a sequel considering it made like $99m against a $66m budget.

I guess it was a really good home video seller or something?

 

[GuitarAtomik]

I don't think they're underrated at all. They're visually amazing movies, but they're sure not perfect otherwise.

 

[Raptor]

They're both good, but they're no Blade 2.

Damn right, I love Hellboy movies but I love Blade 2 more, I wish more CBM today were like that.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

Only thing I really liked about it was David Hyde Pierce.

 

[Various Artists]

I really liked them coming from someone not into the comics. I was mostly drawn to it because I love GDT work and use of practical effects instead of CG. I was pleased.