The man who will direct The Hobbit has another fantasy franchise on the go. Guillermo Del Toro and the cast of Hellboy II talk to MICHELE MANELIS about the return of the big red super anti-hero and his future plans for the little guy
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With the exception of The Dark Knight, the comic book adaptation to the big screen, a genre unto its own, has fallen short in this heavily congested climate of bland and disappointing sequels. Thankfully, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, directed by future Hobbit head guy Guillermo Del Toro
and co-created by the original comic book creator Mike Mignola, has managed to retain the credibility and originality of its predecessor.
Del Toro, who is responsible for the triple Oscar-winning masterpiece Pan's Labyrinth, returns to his first love, the darkly amusing Hellboy (played by Ron Perlman), a part-demon hero whose human characteristics are both likeable and deplorable. And, that's why we like him.
The movie was made on a relatively modest budget of US$85 million and to keep the costs down the production was shot almost entirely in Hungary. The cast is completed by Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor, Luke Goss and John Hurt.
The 2004 film traced the origins of Hellboy, who was created out of some unfortunate Nazi experiments with the dark side but after a loving upbringing turned into a beer-guzzling cigar-chomping kitten-loving agent for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defence - that is, one of the good guys. In the new film he and his fellow bureau agents are in the frontline when an ancient truce between mankind and a parallel universe of bizarre creatures is broken and the underworld's dictator mounts an invasion of Earth.
Unlike the interchangeable characters of icons such as Spider-man, Batman, or even James Bond, Perlman makes Hellboy his own with his particular idiosyncrasies. Says Perlman, "My favourite aspect of Hellboy is the trash talk, the cynicism and humour which is very much real East Coast. I'm a New Yorker and somehow Guillermo captured that personality in a way that was hard to believe yet too good to be true at the same time.
"And yet, you have to remember that English is Guillermo's second language, which is kind of remarkable when you think about it."
Del Toro takes his creatures seriously. "In the first movie I enjoyed the moments where Hellboy was having cookies and milk with the kids. I'm attracted to that. I would love to know who washes the Batsuit and who fills the Batmobile and whether they use unleaded or diesel, whatever. Those things are kind of obsessive for me," he says.
"Who patches the Spider-man suit? I would love to know those details. Does Iron Man wash his own socks or what happens when the washing machine is clogged? I try to give an everyday life feeling to the characters. It's the fact that Hellboy is a slob, a knucklehead slob, but nevertheless when the time comes, he can be a hero," he explains.
Del Toro has an interesting take on life, to be sure. "The people I admire in life, they're not heroes 24 hours a day. They're heroes just in the moment that you need them to be, be they a fireman or whatever - the people who take out the trash and drive their kids to school at 8.30am. They save a life. So I thought it was interesting to have these guys act like humans."
Evidently, Mexican-born Del Toro has retained a vivid child-like enthusiasm for his work - a rare commodity in Hollywood. An imaginative and highly visual director, he has a genuine love and respect for superheroes and otherworldly creatures.
In fact, it seems Del Toro is more comfortable in the world of monsters than he is in reality. Interestingly, it's usually the humans in his movies who are portrayed as evil, rather than the stereotypical heroes.
"I'm really concerned about male adult behaviour. Many of the world's affairs are run like playground fights," he says.
"It worries me that the level of maturity of international issues continues to be degraded into playground brawls. But I'm not saying Hellboy is an essay on that, nor do I propose sensible solutions, but as a storyteller, those are concerns I have and it comes out in my movies."
Unlike many Oscar-winning directors or actors, Del Toro is very much aware of his origins.
"I don't forget my roots and that has helped me very much in my career. I'm a Mexican filmmaker in origin, and therefore when people ask me if I'm a Mexican filmmaker, I say,`How could I not be?' If I endeavoured myself to not be that, I would not succeed because I was raised in Mexico. I heard all the legends and I drank all the drinks and I ate all the foods. I walked on the streets."
His positive perspective on life has served him well.
"I used to have real tough jobs but it's all been an adventure. I've been a car salesman, although a terrible one at that. I used to paint the lines on the freeway with a big machine. But I always said, `I'm going to paint the straightest, most beautiful white line possible. I'm going to paint THE great [expletive] line," he laughs.
From painting roads to winning the Oscar, Del Toro is self-deprecating about how his life has evolved.
"Well, it means I have two more suits now. Before I had only one suit that I carried everywhere. Actually, it's the one I'm wearing today," he says, looking down at his lapel. "It's from two great designers - the Big and Tall store," he jokes, referring to his large frame.
"But I have to tell you, winning an Oscar can be paralysing. You start second-guessing whether you'll be going up for another statue. And I have to admit, although I told everyone I wasn't, I became very nervous 20 seconds before they opened the envelope. All of a sudden, my temperature dropped 50 degrees. It's like that moment when you going to tell a girl you love her, the second before you say it. It's terrifying, regardless of whether she says yes or no. Then life is beautiful again because no is the second-best answer."
Del Toro has several projects in the works, including the ominous task of helming the fiercely anticipated The Hobbit (shot in two parts), which begins production in 2010 in New Zealand. "No, I'm not going to be the next Peter Jackson. No one can be," he laughs.
Every bona fide actor under the age of 30 is rumoured to be playing the lead character of Bilbo Baggins - from James McAvoy to Daniel Radcliffe to Jack Black. "The only person cast so far is Ian McKellen as Gandalf, reprising his role from Lord of the Rings. As far as Bilbo is concerned - it's still up in the air. Maybe I'll do it myself," Del Toro jokes.
Perlman hopes there will be a part for him and remains cautiously optimistic.
"We haven't discussed whether or not I'll be in The Hobbit. But I did say when I found out he was going to be out of the country for four years, 'I'm going to miss you, pal'. And Guillermo said, `No you won't.' That's all he said."
LOWDOWN
Who: Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro, whose past films include the Oscar-winning Pan's Labyrinth and whose next major project is directing The Hobbit in New Zealand.
What: Hellboy II: The Golden Army, sequel to the hit 2004 film starring Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones and John Hurt
When: Opens at cinemas August 28