Film: Red hero returns

3:40pm Friday 29th August 2008

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Hellboy 2 (12A) Comic book hero must save mankind from a supernatural villain, starring Ron Perlman.

IN 2004, writer/director Guillermo Del Toro brought Mike Mignola‘s comic-book hero Hellboy, overly muscled occult detective, complete with horns, tail and hard-boiled attitude, to the big screen.

Del Toro introduced the reluctant crimefighter to a global audience with Hellboy, and his film’s wit, action and ingenious practical effects launched a critical and commercial hit for comic lovers and general audiences alike.

Now the unlikely hero is back with the action-thriller Hellboy II: The Golden Army, bringing badder weapons, a multitude of monsters and a little domestic conflict at home.

Hellboy fights the good fight when duty calls from his employer: the top-secret Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defence (a clandestine bureau created in 1943 that uses secret technology, mysterious powers and a network of operatives with otherworldly powers to defend the world against the more violent supernatural - also known as the B.P.R.D.). He would, however, much rather kick back with a cigar, six-pack, his pyrokinetic girlfriend Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) and their clutter of cats. But destiny has bigger plans for them. After an ancient truce between humankind and the original sons of the Earth is broken, all hell is about to break loose.

The anarchical underworld Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) has grown weary of centuries of deference to mankind. He plots to awaken a long-dormant army of killing machines that will return what belongs to his people; all magical creatures shall finally be free to roam again.

Now only Hellboy can stop the dark ruler and save our world from annihilation.

Joining the wise-cracking, amber-eyed demon and his flammable girlfriend are returning principal Hellboy cast, including the bureau’s brilliant aquatic empath Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) and B.P.R.D. bureaucrat Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor). John Hurt is also back for the latest chapter in the franchise as Hellboy’s surrogate dad (and saviour from the Nazis) Professor Trevor Broom.

Hellboy’s first adventures were published by Dark Horse Comics in 1994. Guillermo del Toro’s debut as a feature film director came a year earlier with the critically acclaimed horror film Cronos, starring Ron Perlman as the thug in search of an immortality device. As del Toro’s work gained international attention, he kept his eye on Mignola’s creation as a possible future project.

“I had always been a Mike Mignola fan,” says the director. “I fell in love with the brooding, Gothic, atmospheric work he was doing. When I was shooting Mimic in 1997, the best part of the day was going to the comic book shop to look for more Hellboy issues. By then, I thought it was taking a direction that made sense for a movie.”

The first Hellboy film, starring Ron Perlman in the title role, made $100 million at the box office, giving del Toro the influence to get the second chapter in Hellboy’s continuing adventures greenlit.

Hellboy would not be Hellboy without Ron Perlman returning in the title role. Fortunately, the actor was up for getting back into the boots of his favourite role, a character he describes as “a complete under-achieving, lazy slob… a beer-drinking, football-watching average American guy who has no desire to be a superhero,” explains Perlman.

“He just happens to have these abilities commensurate with where he’s from and who he is. “His idea of a perfect day is pizza and beer and watching The Three Stooges and Marx Brothers movies. His extraordinary superhuman traits are coincidental and not something he aspires to.”

Also returning as sarcastic romantic sidekick, Liz, is actress Selma Blair. As Liz and Red (Hellboy’s nickname) move into a relationship, they must cope with the same irritations as most couples - plus some unique issues that occur when a recovering demon falls in love with a fire starter.

“Petty things are really amplified when you have superpowers,” laughs Blair, whose character has finally come to embrace the pyrokinetic energy that used to threaten everyone who came near.

“When Hellboy and Liz have a row, it’s not just, ‘Okay, I’m going for a walk, see you later,’” she explains. “It’s more like, ‘I’m going to blow up this damn kitchen and will see you later.’”