Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms
First let me give you a background on my thoughts on Hellboy in general so to not bias anyone about my review. I have never actually read the comics and had only seen random imagery from the comics before the live action movie was released in 2004.
I found the live action movie a good mix between the special effects, makeup, and general design very promising. I am an avid fan of director Guillermo del Toro and thought the cast of the film was equally fitting. Even the plot of the film was done in a new way of which I really couldn’t compare anything else to it. I can’t say that the movie gave my eyes boners or exploded my nut sack, but I didn’t NOT like the movie. To this day I still can’t pin point what would have pushed the live action movie into a mind stabbing, fucking no holds bared awesome action flick, but I digress….on to Hellboy: Animated Sword of Storms.
Almost the entire original cast from the live action film reprises their roles in the animated film. Ron Perlman (Hellboy) is really an underrated actor. Part of his being chosen to play Hellboy in del Toro's live action flick was his expressive face, which doesn't lose any of its range even behind make-up. This cartoon also demonstrates what a strong speaking voice he has. Part of what makes Hellboy so charming is his hangdog approach to his work, and Perlman makes great use of every utterance of tired acceptance when another pummeling is coming the big guy's way. Only he could turn "Oh, crap" into a catchphrase. However joining him on this mission I’m guessing are characters not introduced in the film but from the comic are Kate Corrigan and a half ass psychic of which I can’t even remember his name.
The film starts off in an action scene right away, with the team finishing off a prior mission filled with zombies and giant bat creatures. I mean come on who doesn’t like a few zombies here and there. There does seem to be a little bit of continuity errors involving the bat in this scene but that is totally a nit pick.
From here, the film then jumps to a completely different story line of scientist discovering a long lost scroll, describing the premise for the entire movie. The scroll tells about two demons, Thunder and Lightning, had forged a deal with an Emperor to have him give up his daughter to stop their terror they were releasing on his lands. However, an unnamed lone samurai is in love with the Emperor’s daughter and hides her away from the demons and the emperor. The samurai had a magical sword with which he fought off the demons, but unfortunately was never able to reunite with his love. At this point I looked to myself and was like; I thought the overall plot seemed a little off for their first movie. I’m surprised it didn’t have anything to do with Nazis or any connection to the live action to pull me in. It just stuck in my craw that the first film after the live action film had to deal with some Asian storyline. It seemed like that was more fitting for a third or fourth film.
Well to not give away all plot points, Hellboy discovers the sword, and a mystical fox spirit leads him out of his regular world into a magic realm that is stuck back in the feudal period when the sword was created. Hellboy soon finds out that he won't be able to get back to his own time and place unless he destroys the sword, freeing the demons Thunder and Lightning and thus allowing them to unleash a set of destructive dragons on the Earth. His journey there seems to follow or mimic some Japanese myths, pitting Hellboy against black widow women, floating vampire heads, and seductive ladies with necks that can stretch to any length to entangle a man. Most fun, though, is the Kappa, a sort of water demon that is one of the strangest things you will ever see.
This is some of the best non-theatrical animation I've seen in a while, however I must note that it’s not exclusively for kids. Nor is it entirely adult. It's somewhere between Saturday morning kiddie fare and the level of grimness in the movie. If your kids saw the live-action Hellboy and were fine with it, then you can show them Sword of Storms. The violence isn't too gory, they do use real guns and not fake laser beams like GI-Joe did, and people do die. The language is pretty tame, with "damn", “crap” "dumbass" being as bad as it gets.
FINAL THOUGHTS: 8/10
Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms is an entertaining extension of the Hellboy franchise. The animators have stayed faithful to the earlier versions of the character, giving us a new adventure with some cool supernatural creatures from Japanese mythology. You can out of the box understand why this was chosen as an animated version instead of a live action version, almost in every scene there’s some sort of special effect or character that would have put a live action version’s budget into Waterworld territory. Strong, stylized animation brings the characters to life and delivers inspired action sequences, making for a quality feature rather than just some knock-off sequel. Extensive background materials make this a fun interactive experience, as well. Despite the fact that the plot really should be a third or fourth entry in the collection it is a truly excellent DVD.
Labels: 8/10, Animation, Guillermo del Toro, Hellboy, Ron Perlman
