Hellboy: The Crooked Man

Taylor envisions a 'Hellboy' where the horror matters more than the humor or poetry or romance or even the good vibes, and he’s made a film that proves his take is valid.

Despite its ultra-low-budget trappings, Hellboy: The Crooked Man is a fun, competent adaptation that offers up a healthy dose of Evil Dead-style supernatural action.

If you're a hardcore Hellboy fan, The Crooked Man has enough to keep you engaged. If you're looking for something a little bit more in your dose of Big Red, you might be better off waiting for the next inevitable reboot.

As a longtime fan of the franchise, it is disappointing that we still can’t get a good Hellboy movie from start to finish, and even in comparison to Harbour’s reboot, this one lacks any major style or energy to have it linger in my mind.

No amount of budget could make up for the sputtering mess of a script, or the dead-on-the-inside expressions of the cast – apart from Rudolph who is consistently watchable.

Valiant though this low-budget attempt to reclaim Hellboy may be, it sadly lacks the storytelling and stylistic savvy to rise above its all-too-obvious budgetary limitations.

Everything that unfolds in The Crooked Man does so with exceptional dullness, including various psychic visions experienced by the characters, which feel more obligatory than inspired.

The closest we’ve ever gotten to a comic version of Hellboy. Outstanding especially for the budget!

For better or worse, Hellboy: The Crooked Man is a very faithful adaptation of the comic.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man is not as stylish as the other movies, but it was fun and, in some parts, suffocating. What bothered me was that it was not that bad to be withdrawn from all theaters. The movie deserved a theatrical release in the USA. It could have been more fun on the big screen. These types of movies don't deserve small screens.

This is unfortunately the worst adaption of hellboy to date. The animation, cinematography, and script all were bland and seemed more like a short film or a homemade film rather thanan actual film meant for theatrical release.

Where past iterations of Hellboy are blessed with his charming antics and humor (some even have a touch of morale to the story), this film carries almost none of that nuance. Although perfectly well filmed, “The Crooked Man” is burdened by a lack of depth. This film could have just as well been an episode of a streaming series instead and had better results. There is no vital lesson learned by the protagonist, no meaningful endeavor achieved, or wisdom gleamed by the audience, causing viewer attention to be precarious. The script is rambling, the accents overshot, and the plot winding instead of direct and timely, leaving only the well-seasoned Hellboy connoisseur with reason to consume this production. I understand some of the more well versed Hellboy fans will praise this film for its respect to the source material as well as its dark and dramatic presentation. To me, a retired professional actor, "The Crooked Man" is just another upsetting example of the incredible skill and talent available to the industry in terms of cast and crew, only for so many productions like it to be barren and soulless in terms of plot, script, theme and moral. Directors, executives, and producers must begin to consider their productions pieces of art instead of flimsy cash grabs. Sadly, until the regime changes in Hollywood, we can expect little else.