Hellboy (David Harbour) prepares to stop an ancient medieval sorceress who seeks to destroy all of mankind.

You’ve seen Hellboy before…but you’ve never seen this! Within a millisecond of the film starting you’re introduced to some serious carnage and it’s clear that director Neil Marshall is intent on doing something completely different with his take on the Hellboy legend. Marshall heavily invests in Mike Mignola’s comic book aesthetic and pumps the film full of raw horror cinema moments and midnight movie gore, and the result is something that really stands apart from Guillermo Del Toro’s own Hellboy adaptation. This Hellboy is gritty and in-your-face with it’s storytelling and it’s tone and style suggest a definite punk rock, smashbox attitude. Marshall draws on a massive canvas to tell his story and adds in a great kinetic energy that propels the action forward. There’s so much cool stuff to witness here and you definitely get amped!

Donning the horns and wielding the right hand of doom this time is David Harbour and the actor really makes the character his own. Absolutely stacked and possessed of a hulking intimidation factor, Harbour plays Hellboy as a conflicted character who has some serious issues and who is slightly fed up with his position in life. A severe relationship with his adoptive father Professor Trevor Bruttenholm (Ian McShane), also doesn’t make things any easier and then there’s his whole apocalyptic destiny thrown in there. Can’t a guy just catch a break. With Harbour you get this great working-man, blue collar vibe of a guy who’s got an incredibly tough job, but who just gets on with it anyway. Harbour really goes for it his performance here and I loved the badass swagger that he brought to the comic medium’s biggest bruiser.

Joining Harbour is the legendary Ian McShane as Hellboy’s teacher, instructor and father figure Professor Trevor Bruttenholm and this is indeed a bold new portrayal. While we were first introduced to Bruttenholm as a wizened and learned old scholar in 2004’s Hellboy, here he’s a far more rough and tumble character whose taken the tough love approach to raising his son and McShane’s old school hardass character is very much present here. Anytime Ian McShane steps up to work you’ve gotta have your eyes open and he’s a great addition to the film and really fits the tone that Marshall is going for.

Addinf support to Hellboy this time is gruff and ready to rumble Spec Ops soldier Major Ben Daimio, played by Daniel Dae Kim, and this is a great step up for Kim. Always a consumate professional, Kim is a great foil for Hellboy as Daimio and his by the books approach and steadfast discipline, along with his instant dislike for this ‘monster’ makes for interesting and engaging viewing. Kim really threw himself into the Hellboy world and is proficient on the trigger and absolutely ripped which helps him to portray this scarred up professional soldier. But like all things in Hellboy, Daimio isn’t exactly what he first appears to be and this soldier is hiding his own secrets, that once unleashed, make for some very interesting viewing. I was extremely pleased by what we got to see here with Kim and he makes for a terrific new addition to the BPRD.

Finally Milla Jovovich makes a frightening appearance as Nimue, the Blood Queen, a vindictive and dark sorceress who has plans to unleash the apocalypse and craft her own Eden on what remains of the Earth. Jovovich is an actress who always makes you sit up and take notice and as Nimue she channels a scary charisma that she unleashes to great effect. Her role and position in the story have a great political context to them and her mantra and ideas also start to work on Hellboy, even if she’s also content to give him a good slap in the process as well.

If you want action, well you’ll get it here because Hellboy absolutely goes for it. From vampire wrestling to a giant smackdown to the apocalypse itself, Hellboy brings plenty of pulp action to the big screen and with it is a true serving of horror gore. Marshall’s grounding for this film is very much the world of Mignola’s comics and as a long-time Hellboy fan I can’t express how amazed I was to see the author’s world transported fully to the screen. Here you really are seeing panels ripped from the pages and brought to life on screen and it’s an incredible visceral experience. Then there’s the film’s reliance on practical effects and this really helps to add up to something extremely special. Both the action and the horror are really in your face and you’ll definitely get pumped here.

Hellboy is just straight out punk rock cinema at it’s finest and if you’re wanting a good dose of pulp action then this film will really get your blood going and your heart racing.

Image: Roadshow Pictures

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Having completed his legendary 12 Labours, and earned his place in mythology, Hercules (Johnson), the demi god son of Zeus wanders the land with his loyal group of companions (Rufus Sewell, Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Aksel Hennie, Reece Ritchie & Ian McShane) selling his sword and legend to the highest bidder as a mercenary. Called upon by King Cotys of Thrace (John Hurt) to train his army and save their lands from a tyrannical warlord, Hercules soon begins to suspect that things are not as they seem, and sets out to make them right, embracing his lineage as the son of a god, and his destiny to become the greatest hero the world has ever seen.

Dwayne Johnson is Hercules, there can be no doubt about that. Every frame of this film is filled with his strength, passion and ferocity as the world’s first hero. Johnson dedicated himself to portraying the character completely, hitting the gym harder than ever to craft a body worthy of a god, and infusing Hercules with his own passion and enthusiasm for the hero and his mighty deeds. Although he is a legend Johnson portrays Hercules simply as a man, a man possessed of superhuman strength and otherworldly powers, but a man who can still fall prey to folly, grief, tragedy and pain, and who is searching for redemption. Johnson, who looks like a mountain on screen, is also smart enough not to flex or pose as the great hero, knowing that there is no need to, it was also cool to see him clad in armour and his lion skin, which added a dose of reality to the character. He’s also pretty adapt when it comes to dispatching bad guys with his monumental club, and he gets in on the action, never letting up. But the greatest part comes for Johnson when Hercules finally accepts his status as god, breaking loose his chains and the limitations that they caused. It is a truly epic moment!

Hercules companions also distinguish themselves alongside the almighty legend. Rufus Sewell’s Autolycus is a crafty blade master, possessed of a mercenary spirit and a quick wit, and who’s always looking out for the next gig. Ingrid Bolso Berdal is one tough chick as Amazonian archer Atalanta, and can handle herself at all times. Aksel Hennie is an absolute feral madman as the axe swinging Tydeus. Reece Ritchie gets the coveted role of Iolaus, Hercules’s nephew, and the teller of his grand tales, who uses his uncle’s mighty legend for his own advantage whenever he can pull it off, and finally Ian McShane is a ball of energy as Amphiaraus, a warrior soothsayer and Hercules spiritual counsel who steals every scene that he’s in. Joseph Fiennes has a guest appearance as the arrogant, and vile Athenian King Eurystheus, Irina Shayk is an absolute stunner as Hercules wife, Megara and John Hurt doesn’t disappoint as King Cotys.

Hercules is bold, dynamic and packed to the brim with action. Director Bret Ratner infuses the film with a barbarian grit and gore, which makes the action believable and a lot more fun to watch. The stakes are high in this one, when people get taken down they don’t get up, and you understand the need for Hercules to fight and survive. The fight scenes are breathtaking, particularly when Hercules rides out in his beast of a chariot. But it’s not just the film’s action scenes that have scope and scale, the set building and production design is enormous, recalling the scale that previous strongmen actors such as Steve Reeves and Reg Park would be accustomed to, and it looks incredible up on an IMAX screen.

This Hercules film places its depth and thematic core on the man behind the legend, and parallels can be seen in relation to our current day celebrity culture. When the legends fade, and only the man is left can he step up to what is required, and save those who cannot save themselves. Sometimes it takes a man to embrace his destiny, and forge a new legend for himself, and Dwayne Johnson does this with the force of the gods as Hercules.

The gods will tremble at the power and the passion of the world’s first hero, a hero named Hercules.

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