At the press junket for 'Hellboy II: The Golden Army,' the principal cast and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola were of the same mindset that this film was much more director Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy than it was Mignola’s.
Del Toro agreed with the first part but disagreed with the second because there is material that is "accidentally Mignolaesque stuff and purposely Mignolaesque stuff because Mike and I did come up with the basic storyline and that’s the direction he’s taking the magical world in the comics. By coincidence, when I told him he said, 'That’s exactly what we are plotting already.'
"As an example he pointed to the moment 'The Golden Army' opens that is completely chiaroscuro, back-lit by the fire. If you freeze-framed it, that would be a Mignola frame. The difference is there was a lot more freedom for me to, I wouldn’t say appropriate because it was not an act of will, it just feel[s] liberating, you know, to do my stuff
Del Toro provided some great analogies about working with another artist’s creation and making it your own.
"I said in the past that obviously no matter how respectful you are for the material there is a moment [when it’s] like marrying a widow. You have to be very respectful about the late husband, but at some point you are going to get in bed. The late husband isn’t going to matter anymore, or he better not. And I think it’s the same with material. There’s a point where you go, ‘I only have my instinct to guide me through this section,’ but it’s co-exploring.
"In the case of 'Hellboy,' I have been blessed with a guy like Mike who is the most generous landlord of the 'Hellboy' real estate. He says essentially, ‘Move in, decorate as you want, and make it yours,'" and he has done that. But they are more roommates than landlord and tenant. Del Toro could easily have gone on and made the film anyway he liked, but instead he chose to respect Mignola and his work by keeping him involved in the creative process beyond what was contractually called for.
What’s most compelling about 'Hellboy II' is that these supernatural characters appear no different than humans at their core. Regardless of all the fantastic things that fill the screen, the true adventure in the film is the love story. Del Toro made that aspect of the story believable because, "‘Hellboy’ is for me, the two movies for me are autobiographical. My wife recognizes a lot of details, including the moment when you get asked, ‘Do you need everyone to love you or am I enough?’ which has never been verbalized but you have those moments when you a filmmaker, when you are a storyteller. You have to at some point in your life you say, ‘Okay, who matters in my life?’ and you have to make a decision."
Much in the same way a guy in a bar will chat up a girl to get closer to her hotter friend, some reporters seemed to ask del Toro obligatory 'Hellboy II' questions, so they could get to what they were really interested in: 'The Hobbit' and its sequel. Admittedly the latter presents intriguing questions because copyright issues will limit the film’s story.
Del Toro explained the way they were dealing with it was by "utilizing the materials that are available to us, and the discipline has been to try and know, for my part, know everything else -- not to know it and use it, but to know it and not step on those things. There is enough sort of narrative abridgment in some of the pieces of the narrative, and suggestions, and appendix notes and this and that to guide and create something that will not infringe anything else, but it's too early for me to swear by it
"I think that that's the real creative endeavor in the second film. In the first film, the real creative endeavor is to be faithful to the feel and drive of the book, and the spirit of the book; I think a lot of people say ‘It’s a children's book.’ and I say, ‘Therefore, it should be taken seriously
When asked about the challenges of stepping into such a well-established and well-crafted world created by Jackson and his team, del Toro replied, "If I thought in those terms, I would actually be more daunted…but the way I see it is, I see the whole, the five films -- provided that we do everything right -- as a symphony. And I believe what I'm doing is an overture. And therefore it can be a different color and a different energy and lead you into something that's already part of film's legacy -- all we gotta do is create an almost free-standing piece that can then, if viewed together, make sense as a symphonic work
"If the two first pieces are crafted with their independent merits, but also the second film does lead seamlessly into the first film in the trilogy, we will have created, perhaps, one of the most beautiful symphonies, filmically, that have been done. And the level of craftsmanship that we're talking about -- that I like to bring, that I like to do -- is obsessively detailed, and really the ideal that I'm going to have the tools that exist in WETA, that exist in New Zeland, to create those -- I'm ready to create the pyramids! I'm ready to create the temple of Ra
Even though del Toro is booked pretty solid for the next few years working on the two 'Hobbit' films, he was asked about the prospects of 'Hellboy III'.
He enthusiastically said, "I would love that. There was a gap of four years between the first 'Hellboy' and the second 'Hellboy.' Provided Ron takes his medicine and he can stay healthy, we can have a 'Hellboy III' on the other end. The thing is every time you take one movie you are obviously postponing others like 'Mountains of Madness' or another small movie. One I am trying to write 'Saturn and the End of Days' which is the apocalypse seen from the point of view of a boy, a kid, a seven-year-old. Every choice--every day you drive on the freeway you are not climbing Mount Everest
In the mean time, fans can find 'Hellboy II: The Golden Army' in theaters this Frida
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