In the opening scene we see a black and white film with the Blood Queen (Milla Jovovich) dress in red from top to bottom moving to challenge King Arthur (Mark Stanley). She is the evil presence who wants to take over Arthur’s leadership. Arthur using the singing sword (Excalibur) slices her into pieces and orders the pieces buried at various locations across Europe, so they cannot ever be put together again. The basic theme of the film is Hellboy’s (David Harbour) battle to keep her in pieces.
The next scene finds Hellboy in present time England attempting to make smooth the broken ends of his horns. His adoptive father, Trevor Bruttenholm after helping to make what remains of his horns smooth sends him on a journey to insure the pieces of the Blood Queen remain separated. That is the substance of the film but Hellboy finds many tangent battles and adventures on his way, all of which take away from the main theme. Many appear to be framed in to bring about a maximum of blood letting and destruction as possible. The battle between good and evil is diminished by the many side battles with giants and nasty little creatures.
Along the way we learn about the Hellboy’s linage and find that the Blood Queen has been partly reassembled and is plotting her way back to power. His background which is disclosed when his adoptive father finds him involves a mixed marriage or at least mating that brings Hellboy to a different realization of who he is than what he has understood through out his existence.
But Hellboy falters with a confusing story line that is filled with an over abundance of special effects and blood. The folks who provided the makeup and the sets deserve praise for their work, far more than the script writers.
My review of the first Hellboy film received a B+, the second a C+, this effort only deserves a C-.