Recently enjoying myself at a coworker’s graduation party- I found myself serving as bartender yet again for this social outing. Making my umpteenth mojito for the night, I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation regarding the upcoming summer film schedule. Truly a weakness for such a film fanatic as myself, I slowly eased my way into the conversation so that I may pry into a layman’s interests- perhaps laywoman as she was a female of about 20 years of age. After many films were discussed in that conversation, this girl touched upon the name of Hellboy. Shocked and awed by this graphic-novel super hero’s inclusion in her list, I immediately responded: “Hellboy 2? Are you really looking forward to that?” To which she immediately threw in, “Hell yeah!”

Now, I’ve been a Hellboy fan since the first was announced in 2003 and followed the progress of the film until its release in 2004. Dragging my father to screen it for an early critic’s premier, I was impressed with Hellboy’s portrayal by Ron Perlman and even more taken by the film’s charming and creative atmosphere. When discussing my pleasant disposition with my father, I received nothing short of hostility and general annoyance. My father had felt that beyond Hellboy’s ridiculous premise, there was nothing but a cheesy comic book movie filled with enough one-liners to please a James Bond-groupie. I couldn’t argue with the fact that Hellboy was an imperfect slice of the action genre as there were many plot holes and poorly conceived dialogue, but I still attempted to convince my father of the numerous positive attributes that it brought to the viewer.

We all know that Hellboy is a comic book movie and with that firmly implanted in our mind, we should be fully aware of the tendency for comic book films to be on the campy-side. However, it is only when  a moviegoer can admit that, can they even begin to fully appreciate the rest of the material as creative and enjoyable. As my argument grew in complexity- it was in vain. For my rhetoric fell on empty ears and my father was left unconvinced. Blaming my father’s reaction on him being blindly obdurate, I waited until Hellboy’s release to take a larger poll by word of mouth from my peers and friends. To much of my confusion and sadness, the majority of my population agreed with my father! …Having taken a blow, I left the incident with the belief that Hellboy was a film that strictly adhered to its narrow demographic built exclusively to limit age, gender and sexual preference. I took the event as my cue to quietly remove myself from the argument and give a silent nod to all of my fellow young, middle-class males everywhere.

-Fast forward to the party- Imagine my surprise when this young girl had listed Hellboy’s sequel as a “must-see” of coming attractions. “Something had to be wrong,” I told myself. So I quickly pried deeper into the topic by inquiring, “Oh, are you a Hellboy fan?”

“Hellboy? Oh, I never saw the first one” was her response- as she handed me a gentle smile that all women seem to know how to do.

Left a bit uneasy but still interested as to her intentions, I retorted, “Then why do you want to see the sequel?”

“Are you kidding me? Guillermo del Toro, I love him!” was her last remark, as she casually left the conversation to discuss a different topic.

I was shocked. My reality began to dissipate. My initial reaction was embitterment. I was bitter that she would want to see Hellboy 2 solely because she was a fan of the director’s previous work. I was angry that she never put the time in to watch the first Hellboy, but she was already excited for the second. After a bit of philosophical discussion with myself, I realized that there was nothing wrong with her actions. I’ve been committing this act daily since I first became interested in cinema. I’ve tried to convince people for years that the integrity of the film and the real factor in its enjoyment is often the director. That’s how it’s possible for someone like me to survive in a world where films are dumped out by the thousands- to weed out the unnecessary tripe released, one needs a focal point.

Guillermo del Toro has achieved a level of popularity by attaching his name to films like the Orphanage (producing) and the Devil’s Backbone, and he was allotted even greater success and fame with his film, Pan’s Labyrinth last year. Del Toro has managed to develop such a world-wide following of his creative yet gothic style, that even studio-specified demographics get torn apart by the mere mention of his name in the credits.

To digress, how does Hellboy 2: The Golden Army truly look? Viewing the amazing trailer another dozen times, I can honestly say that Hellboy 2 looks nothing short of a graphic novel masterpiece! Ron Perlman seems to be even more fitting for the large, cigar-smoking, ape-like demon. The trailer is filled with a variety of action scenes, the effects look amazing and the creatures seem to be superior to the first- both in their numbers and their originality. This time around, the viewers get dealt an additional member of the BPRD, the suitably named Johann Kraus, as well as the return of favorites, Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien. The themes appear to be similar to the first, in the fact that Hellboy will once again be tempted by evil to betray the humans that he does not belong amidst. It promises more action, more borderline horror/suspense, and more cheesy one-liners that make Hellboy both a fan-favorite of nerds everywhere and a scapegoat despised by an assembly of the overly-serious and orthodox.

Analyzing the trailer, it appears that either del Toro has become more accustomed to his creative style than before (perhaps he’s trying to live up to the style his fans seem to desire) or Universal has given him more creative-control of the content. Sadly, the pressure is a bit higher this time around and del Toro would have to be thick to not understand the high stakes. Many of those anticipating the film’s release are expecting a caliber of work comparative to Pan’s Labyrinth. If he comes up short, it will mean a serious blow to his growing international fame. Del Toro has recently been announced as the newest contributor for Marvel Studios as he is scheduled to direct Doctor Strange in 2010. He also won what seemed to be the most sought-after and desired project of the decade, the Hobbit (scheduled for 2011). His lucrative future may look promising but if he doesn’t fulfill the cravings of his newfound following, things could change for the worse almost instantaneously. He’s lucky his fans forgot about Mimic.

Whatever the case, Guillermo del Toro so far seems to be a positive influence on an ever-expanding genre that seems to be growing more attached to the term, “cookie-cutter.” Of course we won’t know until July 11th, but until then, the trailer gives us a finely tuned glimpse at what promises to be an amazingly successful follow-up to an aptly deserving storyline. This summer might belong to the Batman, but Hellboy will certainly be fighting for a piece!