A very enjoyable, original animated Hellboy film. As ever with the extended Hellboy franchise the quality control is very high and the story is allowed to develop according to its own logic without being constrained by continuity issues from other branches. In Japan a scholar opens a scroll that tells the story of how a brave samurai warrior trapped the demons, Thunder & Lightning in a sword and lost his beloved to the wrath of her father. The scholar becomes possessed and tracks down the sword and starts a process to release the demons and their brothers the dragons. The B.P.R.D., in this case Hellboy and Kate Corrigan and some others go to Japan to investigate the theft of the sword while Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman remain at the base. Hellboy soon finds himself trapped in a parallel space where he has to journey home with the sword,facing a number of challanges along the way as well as having some ambigious help, while in the real Earth dragons are coming to life in countries all over the world. In a very nice touch all the dragons are the ones that are particular to the traditions of that country. Abe and Liz are caught in a storm and a plane crash at sea and find themselves battling a very fierce creature from the deep. Hellboy crosses a mythical Japanese landscape, returns to modern Tokyo with trouble in tow and the smashing conclusion is delivered.
Some of the scenes in this film are drawn directly from Hellboy stories, others are freshly minted for this story. The animation is excellent, the Japanese flavour is clear without being insulting or intrusive. The various monsters are inventive and the fights are forceful and effective. With the same cast as the live action films providing the voices and a witty polished script, this is a quality production with plenty to interest a non-Hellboy fan.
