Hellboy II, The Latest Del Toro Masterpeice
After Hellboy II, Guillermo Del Toro Journey To Middle Earth For The Hobbit Movies
Hellboy II: The Golden Army is another visual masterpiece from filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, who thrilled audiences with his dark fantasy Pan’s Labyrinth.
“I feel the Hellboy movies are very autobiographical. They are so personal to me. I’ve been where Hellboy is, and I write him from my voice,” said the director-writer-producer of two Hellboy productions.
“The reason I love Hellboy is because he is incredibly fallible. He is a klutz, emotionally and heroically. He’s not a perfect guy. I’ve always like the saying– ‘We like people for their good qualities, but we love people for their defects.’ And those are the characters I try to put up on the screen,” del Toro revealed after receiving the George Pal Memorial Award at this year’s Saturn Awards.
Honored for his imaginative work on the big screen, among del Toro’s other film credits are Cronos, Mimic and Blade II, starring Wesley Snipes, adapted from the vampire comic books.
Classic books from the works of J.R.R. Tolkien will be the source of del Toro’s next monumental project. The Mexican-born filmmaker will journey to the Middle Earth world created by Tolkien and make two movies based on The Hobbit.
Del Toro has been meeting with Peter Jackson in New Zealand to make sure The Hobbit productions will follow in the artistic footsteps of Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, based on Tolkien’s epic tales.
At the Saturn Awards, del Toro talked about all his projects, including what he has planned for the Hellboy II DVD release. On the eve of the theatrical release of Hellboy II, he said, “We start putting together material for the DVDs the day the story gets approved. And someone is there every step of the way documenting the movie.”
Hellboy II: The Golden Army is a great fantasy film that brings back the cranky hero-from-Hell, played by Ron Perlman. There’s a lot of action as Hellboy battles evil, with the help of his fiery girlfriend Liz, played by Selma Blair. So many fantastic characters are part of the storytelling labyrinth created by del Toro, and it is infused with a great sense of humor.
The imaginative filmmaker said he takes great pride in showcasing the film process on the DVDs. “I know the casual fan will never dwell into the DVD extras, but I like to let a very generous landscape come out for really dedicated fans. They are the kids who have no money to go to film school, but maybe they want to do short films and be part of this world. They can browse the DVD like I browsed the ‘Famous Monsters of Filmland,’ as I did as a kid, and learn some of the craft.”
When asked if there’s a director’s cut for Hellboy II? Del Toro said, “Yes. It’s the one that’s in the theaters. All the deleted scenes were deleted because they were crappie. If you want to see them, that’s your problem.”
Trying to give insight to film fans, he explained, “I think it’s very useful to learn why scenes were taken out of a film. As you direct and as you work, you learn that the most beautiful shot is the one that gets in the way of the storytelling. So you wind up taking it out.”
Guillermo del Toro is in pre-production on The Hobbit and reported that he’ll two the two films back to back over the next four years. He has cleared his schedule and will move to New Zealand. “All my energies will be dedicated to The Hobbit.”
He does not find it daunting to take over The Hobbit, despite being reminded about the multi-millions of fans who loved the Lord of the Rings films and their high expectations.
Del Toro said, “I’m completely happy about do it. I’m crazy about the novel, and that’s the only thing that prevailed in my judgment. I thought about it for a long time. And I had a discussion with Peter Jackson about it, and I felt comfortable that he knew that I respected and loved his movies.”
Del Toro promised that The Hobbit would be “faithful to the source.” We can’t wait.
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