Del Toro talks "Hellboy 2"

I don't really have a good idea about how well Hellboy was received by people who saw it, but I really enjoyed it.
Never having read the comic, I have nothing else to base the movie on but itself. However I do love Ron Perlman and Selma Blair, so their involvement had me excited from the get go.
I'm glad to see this sequel being made.

I felt the first Hellboy was average at best, C+ material.

I didn't like the film stylistically and I thought the story was rather bland. That said, del Toro is one of my favorite directors, and Pans was brilliant. Everything I have heard about this film seems an improvement over the first film, so I am looking forward to a trailer. If del Toro goes with a style similar to Pans, count me there opening weekend.

i agree with carl ... while hellboy was entertaining ... it was not much above a c ... but after seeing PANS LABYRINTH (which was great btw) i put a little (not much) faith in Del Toro who has brought several good films to the table.

I say it before, i will say it again, for those who loves Pans, watch Chronos, one of the fist movie from del toro with also ron perlman...I have completely faith on Del toro, from mimic to blade 2 i was never desapointed, hellboy two will be great....

Absolutely agree with karl here. Hellboy failed in the same sense it succeeded. It was so blindly fanboy that I felt that it could only be truly appreciated by fans of the comic (which I am not), and it left the rest of us out to dry. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that kind of dedication, but Hellboy isn't Spider-Man or Batman or even The Flash. He's nowhere near being as iconic as those characters and there were far too many "quiet" moments in the first film when there should have been a great deal more ass-kickery, which is where Stephen Norrington and Del Toro himself got it right with Blade. Who the hell knows Blade? He's a bad-ass who kills vampires. 'Nuff said. However, this being Del Toro and me being a lover of CRONOS and MIMIC (I haven't yet seen PAN, so give me time), I have faith still.

Hellboy was watchable, in the same vein as Constantine or Elektra (ridicule me all you want!). The Sword of Storms DVD was also OK. I'm beginning to wonder what Hellboy's appeal is. But after watching the excellent Pan's Labyrinth, I''m really looking forward to this.

Hellboy is less about him kicking ass and more about him becoming... whatever he will become. It addresses his personal "demons" and his own identity crisis and his coping with being different, and forcefully trying to fit in.

The ass kicking is just a bonus, the fantasy elements and the interactions he has with the others in the Bureau is what made the comic. It was equal parts humor and drama as it was action and fantasy... So, I guess from that perspective it is a fanboy flick, but I don't know too many non comic fans that didn't like the movie and most actually found it entertaining.

It had a magnetic quality to it that attracts interest beyond the action... It works.

Yeah, I agree with Karl that Hellboy was C material. For me the best part of the film was the beginning. I'm hoping the sequel improves on the first film a lot.

I find it curious that del Toro is name-checking his own flick. Trying to drum up a little extra business from the cognoscenti?
That said, I'm hoping this comes together nicely, and I anticipate being there opening weekend.

Does the comment "first year of marriage" bother anyone but me? I thought the love story was a bit trite for the Hellboy movie and to think they will emphasize that more with a marriage fills me with dread. Leave that crap out and just focus on Hellboy doing what he does best.