Synopsis:

At the end of World War II, the Nazis attempt to open a portal to a paranormal dimension in order to defeat the Allies, but are only able to summon a baby demon who is rescued by Allied forces and dubbed "Hellboy". Sixty years later, Hellboy serves as an agent in the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, where he, aided by Abe Sapien, a merman with psychic powers, and Liz Sherman, a woman with pyrokinesis, protects America against dark forces.

Intentions:

I absolutely loved Del Toro's Hellboy film when I first saw it. Reading the comic books, though, there's a definite disparity in tone. Narrative changes are understandable but the level of humor and levity is out of place, both for a comparison to the source material, and within its own narrative. My goal was to establish a more consistent, serious tone, and minimize the role that Agent John Myer plays due to his lack of impact on the franchise, and his performance overall.

Change List:

I quickened the pace of the army's arrival in Scotland, along with the general overtly laughing at Broom's suggestion that his men take rosaries into the site. Cut the "parabnormal" line Cut right before the Wilhelm scream when the soldier gets sucked into the portal Removed the, "It's almost over," "no, it's not," exchange Reduced the exchange with the bumbling photographer Elimited the lines, "Was it an ape," "No, it was red, bright red." We can see that there is a bright red ape looking creature in the film and don't need this said out loud Cut the line, "Look at the size of that whammer" Cut the photographer's line, "it's just a baby boy." I guess I really can't stand this guy Eliminated the hoops John Myer had to go through at the gate to identify him Cut the line, "he's got a thing for cats." The cats themselves sell the humor of the joke without it being plainly stated Cut Clay mentioning that Hellboy sands his horns down because he's saying this while Hellboy is within swinging distance Removed Abe's line, "the whole, lonely hero thing" Eliminated Myers poor line deliver, "I'm going around the back" Cut Hellboy's outburst after Myers saves him - mostly this is to help reduce the timeframe that the slug is on Hellboy's arm down to 17 seconds (still not 7 but still) Cut the crazy costumes line Removed Hellboy saying Sammie has a leak Replaced music when Hellboy is going to visit Liz Cut the line that, "Abe's crazier every day," because this line has no merit to the plot Eliminated Hellboy's response after Liz asks him not to come back and visit her Replaced Liz's voiceover with music from the soundtrack Shortened Hellboy's and Myer's discussion about bringing Liz back to the BPRD Removed Broome saying that Myer will help Hellboy discover what it means to be a man since he disappears between the first and second films Eliminated Liz's and Myer's quirky polaroid cab trip Reduced Jeffrey Tambor's boobery Removed dialogue to make Hellboy's realization of Liz's return more somber I'd like to make a quick note here- I'm removing many of Myers reaction shots because while he's a helpful POV character in this film, he's certainly not this franchise's replacement for Broom, no matter what this film intends, and his fledgling relationship with Liz comes across as pathetic in retrospect Therefore, I removed the forced romantic love triangle scene after Hellboy replies, "nachos..." This includes the awfully easy to notice CGI stone hand crushing a Redbull can And, I removed the entirety of Liz's and Myer's date, along with Hellboy spying after them Reduced Hellboy's reaction to Broom's death so that the shot of him watching over the funeral procession is more powerful Cut Myers longing look towards Liz after Tambor states that he'd shut down the BPRD for good Removed all reference to Myers in the pivotal conversation between Liz and Hellboy Cut much of Tambor's boobery Eliminated Hellboy's ironic line affirming they will be okay as long as they don't separate, right before they're separated by the castle's booby traps Excised Myer's and Liz's awfully phrased emotional climax within the Russian complex Removed Myer's monologue at the end since he shan't be returning for the final film