mike mignola Tagged Articles at Cinematical

You kids today, with your Marvel Studios and your top-notch directors. Many of you are too young to remember just what ugly treatments comic books received in the 1980s and 1990s. Oh sure, there was Tim Burton's Batman, but treatments like David Hasselhoff's Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD were the norm. When a Thor movie was kicked around, the only requirement was muscles and blonde hair. In the 1990s, there was one man that fit that description: Fabio.

A funny little flashback has surfaced on Colleen Doran's blog, which has prompted a delightful trip back in time at Mania. In 1997, Fabio decided that he wanted to play Thor, so he approached animation director Seth Kearsley, and they cooked up a storyline with the help of Henry Gilroy. As Mania points out, this was not a Marvel movie , but it casually borrowed a few elements. The result, pictured to your right, was an unholy blend of Marvel's Thor and Captain Marvel / Shazam where Thor was punished for his arrogance by being shoved into the powerless body of a young boy. Despite its cheese and lack of Hollywood backing, it managed to recruit a lot of comic book talent for its designs, including Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. They were also desperately seeking Charlton Heston to voice Odin, and were in negotiations with Pamela Anderson to voice the Valkyrie Brunhild. But it died off, never to be seen again ... until the Internet could laugh about it.

Speaking with the press in Beverly Hills, Guillermo del Toro casually tossed off a line that sums up the spirit of his most recent film, Hellboy II: The Golden Army and the tone he and his cast achieved: "When you go see a movie called "Hellboy," already there's an implicit, assumed certain sense of goofiness; you have to then say 'Look, we know we're pulpy, we know we're different, but we take ourselves seriously, and we want to entertain." Mike (Mignola, creator of the Hellboy comics) said it: He's not the Hell Knight, he's not the Hell Spawn, he's not the Hell Lord, he's the Hellboy. ... "

Much of the pleasure in the Hellboy series comes from the mesh and mix of the sensibilities of del Toro and Hellboy's creator Mike Mignola; I asked del Toro about the challenge of adapting someone else's material. How much of it is a struggle, and how much of it is a pleasure, to find ways to make someone else's creation yours? "I said in the past that, obviously, no matter how respectful you are of the material there's a moment ... I made the analogy that it's like marrying a widow; you have to be very respectful about the late husband, but at some point, you're going to get in bed, and the late husband is not gonna matter anymore, or it better not. And I think it's the same with material; there's a point where you go "I have only my instincts to guide me through this section ..." But, it's co-exploring. In the case of Hellboy, I've been blessed with a guy like Mike (Mignola), who is the most generous landlord of the Hellboy real estate; he says, essentially, move in, decorate as you want and make it yours."

Imagine one of the Star Trek crews transported to Tolkien's Middle Earth, or Buffy and her Scooby gang whisked away into the heart of Narnia. That's how Hellboy II: The Golden Army can feel, as you watch a cartoonish-looking, cigar-smoking demon fight gorgeous creatures right out of ancient folklore (and one Miyazaki-esque nature deity). Your reaction to such a contrast -- as fascinating, jarring or downright repellent -- will likely influence your feelings about the latest film from Guillermo del Toro, a sequel to his 2004 adaptation of Mike Mignola's graphic novels. The writer-director's previous film, Pan's Labyrinth, was a favorite of mine, and while Hellboy II doesn't quite measure up to that film's richness of character and story, it is still visually extraordinary.

I came into this film entirely ignorant of the Hellboy universe ... much like with Sex and the City, although it seems bizarre to compare Mignola's characters to Candace Bushnell's. I haven't read the graphic novels and I hadn't even seen the first movie (it was impossible to find a rental DVD of Hellboy in Austin last week, which may bode well for the popularity of the sequel). And yet, unlike Sex and the City, I didn't feel as though I must have missed something in order to fully appreciate the film. Hellboy II gives us virtually no backstory on its main characters, but that's not necessary, as the setup becomes obvious almost immediately. Sure, there were a few scenes where the comic-book fans were laughing and I didn't get the joke, but it didn't bother me and I never felt lost or confused.

One of the best things about life here on Cinematical is that I receive a crash course in comic books that I'm unfamiliar with. The world of graphic novels and comic books is a pretty daunting one, especially when every other title is being optioned by a big studio.
There are so many of these characters that I've known in passing or via their movie adaptations that I don't even know where to begin reading.

And that's coming from someone who's (somewhat) in the know! I can't imagine how it looks from the outside. I try to imagine these poor souls going into a comic book shop and saying "So, um, which comic was the movie based on?" and getting laughed at. And with Hellboy, that's a lot of people, including yours truly.

That's why I love the guys at ComicMix -- they know their superhero stories, and they're eager to share them. You can go there, quietly print their lists up, and take them to Amazon.com without needing to talk to a single judgmental soul. Now, to coincide with the release of Hellboy II: The Golden Army, they've put together a best of Hellboy list for those unfamiliar with his comic incarnation. And I know after you've seen the movie, you're going to want to pick up Seed of Destruction and The Corpse. They sound like the perfect beach reading to me!

[Thanks to Rick Marshall, who always keeps us in the loop]

I stumbled out of Hellboy II: The Golden Army feeling as if my imagination had eaten too much. In terms of sheer spectacle and visual invention, Hellboy II is an absolute knockout, frames stuffed with bizarre creatures and mystic runes and arcane weaponry and wondrous design. And yet, Hellboy II has more than a little heart to it; it's scrappy and self-aware, and never out of touch with what it is. Adapting Mike Mignola's post-superhero retro-styled comic series Hellboy for the second time, writer-director Guillermo del Toro corrects some of the mistakes of the first Hellboy, makes a few mistakes of its own, picks itself up, keeps going. And, on the way, knocks the back of your eyeballs for a loop. As our British friends say, Hellboy II: The Golden Army does what it says on the tin: It is a sequel about a character named Hellboy (Ron Perlman), and yes, an army of golden warrior-robots is involved, the mystical weapon of mass destruction that the elf-prince Nuada (Luke Goss) hopes to seize control of so as to wage war against humanity ... I know I'm getting ahead of myself. Then again, so does Hellboy II, right from the jump, and it doesn't slow down.

OK, bad news first: The trailer doesn't actually arrive at IGN until tomorrow. ("Tomorrow" being December 20th, so if you're reading this post AFTER December 20, then there is no bad news. Moving on.) The good news is that those fine movie nerds of IGN.com already have a few new pics from Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (did they really change the title to "HB2"??), and (as a big fan of the first) I must say they look pretty darn cool.

The sequel reunites most of the principal players from the first time around: Guillermo del Toro, Mike Mignola, Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, John Hurt and Jeffrey Tambor will return for the $70m+ Universal sequel, which opens on July 11 of last year. You may wonder why the studio opted to greenlight a sequel to a movie that didn't even make its budget back in domestic box office, but the first Hellboy didn't fare too poorly. Off a reported budget of about $60 million, it grossed just under $100m worldwide, and sold like the proverbial flapjacks on DVD. (And the three-disc director's cut is really awesome!)

Having not yet seen the trailer for myself yet (darn you, IGN!), I obviously cannot comment on its content. But c'mon. It's Willy del Toro, people! (Cronos! The Devil's Backbone! Pan's Labyrinth!) Even his Hollywood movies are good! (Blade 2! Hellboy! (ahem) Mimic!) Apparently this man can do no wrong! (Oops, I take it back. Hope I didn't just jinx the guy.) So don't forget to visit IGN's movie department some time after 3pm (Eastern) tomorrow afternoon. Tell 'em Cine sent you.

The big news of the geek street lately has been the pick up of Hellboy 2 (which had previously lost studio funding thanks to their original studio sorta tanking) by Universal, who is now looked upon by geeks such as me as a sort of metaphoric knight on a white stallion. The general plot has been known for quite some time -- title character Hellboy and company will be attempting to prevent the resurrection of a mythical "golden army." However, thanks to AICN we now have a more filled out version of the plot. Read on if you are curious, but beware: SPOILERS WILL ABOUND.

Here it goes: the big three will be back -- Hellboy, Abe, and Liz -- at Paranormal Lab, where Hellboy and Liz have taken up together. However, a slip up results in the F.B.I. being forced to reveal the existence of their secret unit to the general public. Brash old Hellboy doesn't play well with the public, which only increases the instability of his already-turning-rough relationship with Liz. However, fellow paranormal Johann Kraus (who is a sort of ectoplasmic spirit held within a very special containment suit) is far better with the public -- and with Liz, apparently. But in the end they've all got to come together to fight Prince (son of the Woodland King), who, with his army of ghouls, faerie, and the like, is attempting to resurrect a golden army once controlled by his father. Delightful.

Hellboy was a fantastic film wonderfully translated from an even more fantastic comic book series. However, the box office performance of said wonderful film could best be described as "meh." It didn't tank, per se -- domestic, overseas and DVD sales combined to help it turn a profit -- but it was not a particular success, either. Fans loved it, though, and with the DVDs selling reasonably well, we really hoped to see a second installment. Director Guillermo Del Toro is interested, and principle actors are eager to return, but the picture has yet to find a studio to financially back it.

At ComicCon, Del Toro filled fans in on where the picture stands currently. He said a great script has been finished with the full stamp of approval from creator Mike Mignola. Mignola himself even chipped in to say the themes of the movie will clearly echo major themes of the comic series. As for production? Del Toro could only offer "I hope it gets made, but that is really all I can say right now." We certainly hope so too, Guillermo. The first one was far too good to be the last.

It's shaping up to be a big week in the happy marriage of Hollywood and the gaming industry -- according to the trades, we can now add two more to the long-gestating Reservoir Dogs game that was announced last Thursday.

The news of a Hellboy game is probably the most exciting to movie fans because it's being created with the involvement of both the movie's director, Guillermo del Toro (Apparently he's a big gamer -- who knew?), and the creator of the Hellboy comics, Mike Mignola. The duo are involved in all aspects of the game, from "approving the designs for characters and sets" to "selecting the voices, color pattern and lighting," as well as story direction and score. Del Toro is approaching the game very much like a movie, and feels that the opportunities offered by next generation technology will eventually lead to the meshing of film and game: "In the next decade ... You have to start blending [movies and games] into a single universe. Not a tie-in, not an ancillary market for a brand, you have to think of the storytelling universe as being one and the same. That's the future." Wait a second -- a film director who views movie-related games as more than just cash cows? Holy crap.

In addition, a game based on Michael Mann's magnificent Heat is finally in the works, so far without the involvement of anyone from the movie (though the goal is get to the film's stars to provide voices). According to a representative of Regency Enterprises, they're moving into the gaming world now because "The success of the special edition DVD last year reminded us how ... Heat is truly a modern day classic and deserved to be retold using modern technology that will transport a viewer into that world." Uh huh. Speaking of cash cows ...

It seems Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and his film pal director Guillermo del Toro have chosen to follow in the vein of Sin City creator Frank Miller and write up some new material for their Hellboy sequel. In a recent comments, Del Toro has indicated that while the film will stay true to the elements of the comic books (which is easy to imagine, since Mignola is heavily involved), it will not be based on already existing story lines. Del Toro seems to have made this known to counter statements made earlier by actor Ron Pearlman, who had recently told media outlets the new film story would be based on parts of Mignola's comics. Del Toro insists this is not the case, stating Ron "took a few liberties with the facts." According to Del Toro, he and Mignola worked up a new story together which explored "a lot of elements he [Mignola] has been keen to explore in the future of HB." Del Toro also tossed out a bit of a teaser by promising Abe Sapien fans the character would play a pivotal dramatic role in the new film.

I am sure I'll be happy with any story that gets chosen for the new film, so long as Mignola remains attached to the process. Like Frank Miller with Sin City, I have complete faith in Mignola to create wonderful new stories for his universe, and I look forward to seeing a sequel.