Following ‘Pan’s Labyrinth,’ ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’ Regresses From Best to Worst For Guillermo del Toro

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:01:00 -0700

CHICAGO – Hellboy is plugged as the world’s brawniest, kitten-loving superhero. While that paradox is supposed to be both funny and action packed, “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” from famed writer and director Guillermo del Toro falls flat on the funny front and instead winds up on the funny farm.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

Amid a superhero-laden 2008 with true blockbusters including “The Dark Knight” (opening on July 18, 2008), “Iron Man,” “Hancock,” “The Incredible Hulk” and “Punisher: War Zone” (opening on Dec. 5, 2008), “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” had just as much potential but reveals only semi-blockbuster status.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” in our reviews section.

View our full, high-resolution “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” image gallery.

On the heels of the majestically dark “Pan’s Labyrinth,” Guillermo del Toro regresses from perhaps his finest film hour to his among his greatest misfires in the action-packed but story-miscued film about a tough-talking hellspawn who wages war against rebellious and ridiculous creatures.

If you recall 2004’s “Hellboy” at all, it’s not likely because of the $60 million in domestic dollars the film raked in theatrically or its $100 million worldwide total in theaters. Rather, “Hellboy” earned cult-following status from its subsequent DVD release. It’s that launch pad that’s propelling “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” with steam in 2008.

But while the film will show an improved box-office balance sheet and critically is earning rave reviews, don’t be fooled by the hype machine. Guillermo del Toro delivers the Hollywood filet mignon we’ve come to expect wrapped nicely in all the special-effects bacon we’ve come to desire but without the heart we’ve come to demand.

Do we care about any of these characters? Do we care if this one actually falls in love or if that one actually lives or dies or if this one makes amends or if that one comes to terms with destiny? What we do feel isn’t for the characters, their missions or the performances they deliver.

“Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” which is written and directed by Guillermo del Toro and stars Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Seth MacFarlane, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, Doug Jones, John Hurt and Jeffrey Tambor, opened everywhere on July 11, 2008.

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” review.

Hellboy (Ron Perlman) does battle with an elemental in “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”.
Photo credit: Double Negative, copyright Universal Studios

Writer and director Guillermo del Toro holds Hellboy’s revolver on the set of “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”.
Photo credit: Egon Endrenyi, copyright Universal Studios

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” review.

Darker Director For Darkest ‘Harry Potter’? Guillermo del Toro Hopes So

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:07:44 -0700

CHICAGO – So, Warner Bros.: Yes or no? Darker director Guillermo del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth”) wants to direct “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” so badly he bought the final J.K. Rowling book for his daughter and latched onto it himself so she had to say: “When are you going to give it to me?”

He solidified his position of passion for the gig to MTV on Tuesday.

Guillermo del Toro.
Photo credit: mun²

“I read it and I was very moved by the ending. It ends very much like a [Charles] Dickens novel.”

“I’m definitely interested [in directing the seventh ‘Harry Potter’ film],” he insisted, “now that the movies have grown darker. They have a contrast between the gloomy existence of the kid and the world he’s exposed to. They have evolved into a really nice universe.”

MTV can envision the fit, too:

The ‘deathstick’: a wand of destiny [that] makes its bearer unbeatable. A resurrection stone [that] enables the one who wields it to visit with the dead. A trip to the afterlife and a final duel [that] makes “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” look like kindergarten cops and robbers.

Indeed, given all the new elements of the “Harry Potter” universe introduced in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” there’s little doubt it would be right in del Toro’s wheelhouse – especially after the visionary “Pan’s Labyrinth” cemented him as the master of fairy tales that cross over from children to adults.

Even back on Oct. 26, 2007, the director again talked to MTV in Budapest about his interest in the project. His name even popped up as a directorial possibility for the third film (“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”), which winded up going to good friend Alfonso Cuarόn.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Pan's Labyrinth

Following ‘Pan’s Labyrinth,’ ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’ Regresses From Best to Worst For Guillermo del Toro

Darker Director For Darkest ‘Harry Potter’? Guillermo del Toro Hopes So