David Harbour Says ‘Hellboy’ Had Its Problems But Was “Unfairly Bludgeoned” for This Reason
Shortly after the release of Neil Marshall‘s Hellboy, star Milla Jovovich took to Instagram to defend the film, writing: “All my raddest films have been slammed by critics… every one of those films is now a cult classic. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. And this will be too. Mark my words.”
Personally speaking, I agree with Jovovich on that assessment, as I found Marshall’s rated “R” take on Hellboy to be a gory good time – despite the problems it definitely does have. As I noted on Twitter after seeing it, it’s like watching Meatloaf’s coolest album covers come to life, with some Sam Raimi peppered on top, and that’s the kind of recipe I can appreciate.
If you’re interested, you can read my full Hellboy review right here.
So what are Hellboy star David Harbour‘s honest thoughts on the movie? Speaking with Digital Spy, Harbour admits it’s not a perfect movie, but he also feels it was unfairly trashed.
“We did our best, but there’s so many voices that go into these things and they’re not always going to work out. I did what I could do and I feel proud of what I did, but ultimately I’m not in control of a lot of those things,” Harbour told the site.
He continued, “The problem that I have with comic book movies nowadays is that I think, and it’s a result of the power of Marvel stuff, it’s like chocolate, it’s a flavor. So everybody goes chocolate is delicious and these guys make the best chocolate. So as you judge the movies, it’s like, ‘Well it’s not as chocolatey as this, this does not taste like chocolate at all.’ And I sort of want a world where there’s more flavors than just comparisons to chocolate. So in that way when Hellboy is viewed on the chocolate spectrum, it does very poorly.”
“That being said, it also has major problems,” Harbour admitted. “I think as a rental or as a movie that you see on an airplane, I think you’d be like, ‘Oh that was fun’ because it’s a fun movie, and I think it was unfairly bludgeoned as a result of these comparisons.”
What Harbour is essentially saying here is that Hellboy doesn’t stack up to Marvel’s superhero movies, to be sure, but that it shouldn’t have to in order to be enjoyed. And he brings up a great point there, as the seriousness of the MCU’s output has raised the quality bar to such an extent that every single comic book movie is compared to Marvel’s best efforts. But Hellboy was never even trying to compete with Marvel (or del Toro’s movies), instead choosing to deliver a wild, crazy, over the top monster movie – and that’s precisely what it brings to the table.
Unfairly maligned? A future cult favorite? Yeah. I think Jovovich and Harbour are spot on here.
