One of the first things to note is that Hellboy Animated isn't really a cartoon for kids, but more of an animated film. Like the live action film, there is cursing and intense action. Though the movie never goes anywhere near as far as Spawn: The Animated Series, parents should still be mindful of their kids' age. If you let them watch the feature film, then the animated one is okay, but if you thought that story was too harsh, then you might want to hold back a while.
Hellboy's latest mission has him gaining possession of an ancient Japanese sword that contains two trapped demons, Thunder and Lightning. These demons are destined to call their brothers, the Dragons, onto Earth and end the rule of man. When a professor reads an old scroll and becomes possessed, he is determined to break the Sword of Storms and release the demons so that they may resurrect their brothers. But before he has the chance, Hellboy gets the sword and is transported to another dimension full of spider monsters, evil heads, water creatures and so much more. Meanwhile on Earth, Liz (the pyrokinetic with control problems) and Abe Sapien find that one of the Dragon Brothers is starting to wake and they have to keep it busy while Hellboy does his stuff.
Several people reprised their roles for this animated feature. Ron Perlman (Blade II, Alien: Resurection) takes on the voice of Hellboy, Selma Blair (Legally Blonde, Cruel Intentions) returns as Liz and Doug Jones is once again Abe Sapien, the fish boy.
One of the better aspects of Swords of Storms is that you really don't need to know your Hellboy comics, or even the Hellboy feature film to get into it. Any information you need to have about Hellboy's origin is given in a brief introduction and from there, it jumps into Hellboy and his friends' latest adventure. Though the animated film takes place after the film, there isn't really any part of the story that requires you to have seen it. There are some parts that you will surely have a better understanding of, like Liz's fear of using her firestarter abilities or the fact that John Myers is new to the Bureau of Paranormal Research, but you can gather most of that from the animated movie.
Hellboy Animated is a good film for fans of the hero, comics in general, animated films or just action-packed, demon-fighting alternate-dimensions movies.
