del Ranko: Ranking The Films of Guillermo del Toro

So here we are, another retrospective in the can.  And I must say...the most challenging of all to finish.  It wasn't because I didn't like the films, no no no.  It just caught me at a busy time.  But as promised I finished.  And there's a little surprise in here, too.  Guillermo del Toro loves monsters and creatures and his whole filmography celebrates them.  He doesn't have interest in getting away from that and I'm glad.  Most directors will use horror and sci fi as a launching pad to "prestigious" films, but Guillermo has no desire.  I love that we have a director who enjoys playing in the sandbox and perfecting it.  Of all the directors out there, not one pays as much detail to every ounce of a creature's being or supernatural mechanics being used in a film.  You'll never utter "how does that work" leaving a del Toro movie.  Its surprising to thing he's been making films for around 20 years.  Hats off to your future endeavors, Mr. del Toro!

Guillermo del Toro Retrospective: HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY

Hellboy II: The Golden Army
2008
Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Seth MacFarlane, Luke Goss, Anna Walton, Jeffrey Tambor
Rated: PG-13

And after Pan's Labyrinth we're right back to Hellboy.  This sequel was commissioned shortly after the first's release and supposed to be put out in 2006, but Revolution Studios went out of business, putting the sequel on hold.  Universal studios picked up a backdeal on Revolution's films and put this one forward.  del Toro always wanted to at least craft a trilogy out of the Hellboy character and here was a second stab at it.  The film expands upon and improves the universe set in the first film.  It feels more comfortable with itself and makes for a much better film than the first go-round.

Guillermo del Toro Retrospective: HELLBOY

Hellboy 
2004
Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Karel Roden, John Hurt, Jeffrey Tambor, Biddy Hodson
Rated: PG-13

So, yeah, I didn't finish this series before Pacific Rim came out last weekend.  Last week was a bit crazy for me and I had to end up putting this retrospective on hold.  Time was not something that was available for me to have to complete it.  I could have written about the last 3 entries in this series without viewing them, yes.  But to be true to my restrospective format, I like to enter each essay coming off a fresh viewing of the film I'm discussing.  I don't ever want to get away from that.  And being that the last 3 films in this series are kinda lengthy, I needed the time to A) watch them and B) write about them.  Lots of things piled up last week and I had to prioritize and I wasn't able to fit them in.  But, alas, I'm back and hopefully can finish this off this week.  I don't plan on something like this happening again, but you never know.

Guillermo del Toro Retrospective: BLADE II

Blade II
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman, Leonor Varela, Luke Goss, Norman Reedus, Matt Schulze
Rated: R


Guillermo del Toro was brought back into Hollywood thanks to having a big fan in David Goyer.  When it came sequel time for Blade and Stephen Norrington bowed out, Goyer went with a director he was a big fan of.  And this time, for Guillermo, these guys were going to sit back and let him do his thing.  This was going to be a bit more free reign than his first foray.  He accepted the script provided and didn't really make any major changes.

Guillermo de Toro Retrospective: CRONOS

Cronos
1993
Starring: Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Tamara Shanath, Cladio Brook, Margarita Isabel
Rated: R

And the retrospective fire keeps on burning!  This one will be a little different.  Previously, we would just follow a franchise's entire run.  This time, we'll look in at a director's oeuvre.  And I've decided on one of my absolute favorite working directors, Guillermo del Toro.  del Toro is a man who's an incredible visionary and gives the utmost attention to every detail in every mechanism and monster he creates.  He prefers to create monsters and try to crutch on practical effects whenever possible.  If you have a film of his that has interviews or a commentary, you'll know how engaging and incredible it is to listen to this man talk film.