I was looking forward to this, and yet was still surprised to see it on TV so soon. I love the Hellboy comics and associated spin offs. I thought the movie was great, too. This cartoon version did a great job of bringing the feel of the comic to life, and as a bonus, Ron Perlman and Selma Blair from the movie version do the vocal work of their characters, respectively Hellboy and Liz Sherman. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that Doug Jones, who played Abe Sapien in the film but did not get to voice his character, which was done nicely by David Hyde Pierce, actually provides the voice for Abe Sapien here, and does a great job, too. The story is good, and much like the comic, focuses on the paranormal aspects of myth and folktale, in this case involving a Japanese sword. The animation was great, reminding me both of the comic art by Mike Mignola and the Batman, Superman, and Justice League animated series. I was very entertained. If you like either the comics or the movie, you should check it out, and if you like stories involving the paranormal a la the X-Files, you may very well love Hellboy, who brings a neat twist to investigating the paranormal.
Add a Review
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seltzer28 October 2006
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CuriosityKilledShawn2 March 2007Live action translates perfectly into animation in this feature-length Hellboy adventure. What makes it even better is that the main cast return to do the voices and Marco Beltrami's main theme is used. A lot of animated spin-offs in the past have proved to be just as good when taken seriously by the makers (Animatrix, Spider-Man) but, in my opinion, Hellboy: Sword of Storms was good enough for a theatrical release. A small one, like Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.
The story has HB, Liz and Abe go to Japan where a local historian has gone missing and a priceless exhibit damaged. While at the scene, HB wanders off, following a strange Fox and ends up trapped somewhere in time. Liz and Abe have no idea where he is but have their own problems to deal with as the weather takes a turn for the worse.
Stuck in ancient Japan, HB must deal with a bunch of vampires, demons and monsters in an effort to get home. Easier said than done.
I liked the movie, but felt it lacked something. Still, it made me interested in the character, even though I have yet to buy a single Hellboy comic book. After watching this however, I can't wait to get some more of HB. The animation style follows that of the comic pretty closely and the color pallet ranges from very bright and very colorful to moody and atmospheric. It's very impressive and highly detailed. Don't expect 'saturday morning' style animation here.
If you are seriously into Hellboy or even if you are just a casual fan of the movie then you totally have to get this. I eagerly await Hellboy: Blood and Iron, due out this summer. In the meantime, I reckon I ought to get me some Hellboy comic-books. -
Quinoa19845 October 2007Hellboy: Sword of Storms is in the quality of animation no more or less the standard one might see on the average program on Adult Swim (Cartoon Network, of course). Which means it's always eye-catching, if only on a kind of wacky 2-D level that is left in the dust in these days of cinema going the way of CGI. What makes Sword of Storms significant, if only in parts, is that Mignola, Del-Toro and company start to introduce a lot more surreal imagery than was seen in the first theatrical feature. Hellboy gets swept up this time in a pretty convoluted (or just seems that way, turns out it's actually painfully simplistic in terms of the Japanese folklore played out as drama), with monsters and demons all under the control of a sword that if broken spells doom for the Earth. As usual he does his job well at whacking around creatures like a big turtle/lizard creature, and at the start even tackles a big beast that, until Liz- as kind of a running un-funny gag- blazes fire all over the place till the job's done- but that's not all.
This time the supernatural is accentuated in the world of what is a cross between Noh theater and, well, the average Hellboy comic-book. It doesn't matter either way how much the writers and producers researched Japanese history and creatures and such (though I'm sure they did their share). What matters is how effective it all is, and in the end Hellboy is also a dark comedy- how is it to see Hellboy, after spending an uncomfortable night with some unpleasant Japanese fellows, to awake to find that they're heads have been disconnected from their bodies, and are attacking him viciously! It's even better, of course, to see the fate of the heads, pleading Hellboy to tell where their bodies lay. I also liked the little asides with the talking fox, the old lady, and of course the big-ass demons, who allow one or two quips from Hellboy as he has to tackle them any way possible. On top of the fighting heads, there's a crazy possessed researcher, which in and of itself could make an interesting issue in the comics.
Only the conventions of the story (the psychic has been seen in countless permutations of the annoying side character who's only there for moments of sudden exposition for another side character who isn't as annoying; plus the ending with the Japanese ghosts going through a redemption moment) drag the film really downward. Aside from that, it's from cartoony viewing, and it should appeal to anyone who's somewhat a fan, and mandatory for fans of the books; lord knows there's only so many times we can see Hellboy in the whirlwind of samurai dreams. -
The latest incarnation of the Mike Mignola's once underground, now seemingly omnipresent and unstoppable, comic book masterpiece, 'Hellboy', now comes into the world of animation. The first of the several planned animated films, 'The Sword of Storms' takes Hellboy and drops him in a fantasy world of Japanese folklore.
The voice acting is excellent. Ron Perlman has now become the de facto voice of Hellboy, and if this ever becomes an animated series, his presence will be crucial for its success. More surprisingly, considering her usually rather flat and whiny voice, Selma Blair delivers a finely nuanced performance. The best of all however, is Doug Jones. Seemingly perennially cursed by his background as a mime, the man has been seen in several great films in recent years but never heard. He has a pleasant, deep-ish voice, which entirely suits Abe Sapien. David Hyde Pierce acquitted himself well in Hellboy but will not be missed in the sequel. Hopefully Mr Jones' fine performance here will encourage studio execs to leave him be as the voice of the Silver Surfer.
The character designs are deliberately different from Mignola's and in my opinion, that is a smart decision. Hellboy himself remains relatively faithful to the original concept, but shown in a more stylised form, reminiscent of Bruce Timm's drawings. For the most part, this works, apart from an occasional slip where Hellboy's face takes on an exaggerated facial expression, lapsing into caricature. Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman and a few of the supporting characters are more radically redesigned and remind of the current pseudo-manga style of 'The Batman' or 'Jackie Chan Adventures'. Personally, I am not a great fan of this particular approach, but I acknowledge it is popular and in context, effective. Mike Mignola's original drawing style is not completely ignored and is most clearly evoked in the design of Hellboy's various skeletal and monstrous opponents. There are also some attempts to emulate the comic's use of shadows (most notably in the "Heads" sequence).
There are however, some problems. The animation itself is very hit and miss, and apart from the already mentioned weird facial expressions, there are occasional strange and unnatural movements from the characters. Some scenes feature noticeably poorer animation quality than the overall film. They appear jerky and cheap and look as though they were completed in a rush.
The plot itself is not overly engaging. Although a story about cursed ancient lovers shows promise, it is severely underdeveloped, in favour of some nonsense about Thunder Gods and Dragons. The majority of the actual film shows Hellboy wandering around Wonderland (or something), fighting assorted monsters. Some of these action sequences are great fun but it all gets repetitive so that the overall effect is episodic and only occasionally compelling (I'm going to mention "Heads" again here that segment is excellent). The other half of the film deals with Abe and Liz, but they are not given much to do, and their action sequences are nowhere near as interesting as Hellboy's. There is some attempt to deal with Liz's distrust of her powers but it largely falls flat, especially compared to the comics and film. However, the fact that there is some characterisation at all, as well as the presence of some rather mature themes and some unflinching violence mark this as more than just a kids-only film. Hopefully, the creators are just hitting their stride, and some of the wrinkles will be ironed out by the next instalment. -
yusufpiskin16 November 2020At a time when it looked as if there wasn't going to be another live-action Hellboy film, creator Mike Mignola teamed up with Tad Stones to make this visually stunning animated adaptation (the scene in the forest with the spiders is a standout). Taking place sometime after the events of the first film & focusing primarily on the paranormal, this features the 3 principal cast members of Ron Perlman, Selma Blair & Doug Jones (who gets to use his own voice this time) reprising their roles & being joined by Professor Kate Corrigan (clearly replacing Tom Manning), apart from taking moments directly from the comics (such as the Heads sequence), there are some fabulous nods to Highlander & the Simpsons episode El Viaje Misterioso de nuestro Jomer Definitley recommended if you're a fan of the Del Toro film but especially if you love the comics.
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EXodus25X11 July 2008Not a fan of this animation style, the proportions between the character were way off from the movie and the voice acting was terrible. It was a nice touch to use some of the same voice actors from the films, but when the actors don't give a great performance in live action what makes them think there voice work will be better. I really wanted to like this animated movie because I had heard it was closer to the comic books (which I have never read) and I have felt the movie was missing a little something and maybe that was it's distance from the comic books. But if this is really a better representation of the comic books then I'll just stick to the live action movies.
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I think a lot of people don't know the Hellboy animated movies even exist. There is Hellboy: Sword of Storms and Hellboy: Blood and Iron. Both feature the voices of the actors from the original live action movies by director Guillermo del Toro. They were released direct to video in 2006 and had the potential to become a full scale animated series. Unfortunately that never happened.
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I get the feeling that this "Hellboy Animated" movie only materialised to cash in on the popularity of the live action movie.
This seems to be a prequel to the first Hellboy movie, but it lacks the sense of grandeur that the first, or Golden Army, had. It feels like a "just another day on the job" accounting of one of Hellboy's more interesting paranormal cases, which in this case involves a plot by some Japanese demons to enslave the world and the key to stopping them lie in the form of an ancient Samurai Blade. Fair enough. It sounds quite good. I bet it sounded better on paper than the end result we see on screen. The plot weaves in and out, cutting between Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman responding to some anomaly in the ocean, 2 BPRD agents tracking down a possessed Professor and Hellboy lost in the Japanese backwoods with the Samurai Sword. It gets a little hard to follow at times and many scenes just seem unnecessary in advancing the overall plot. The producers tried to throw in some very unique monsters and threats for Hellboy to face, based on many ancient Japanese myths. A noble move, but unless you are already well versed in the old folklore from the land of the Rising Sun, those monsters(that apparently the production team painstakingly researched) would just come across as generic supernatural threats with some quirky designs.
In the end, The whole resolution to the story is possibly the weakest aspect; a real let down. There is a romantic subplot involving an ancient samurai and his ghostly lover but it is not like the romance in the live action movie, more closer to Saturday morning cartoon style of romantic relationships. It is cheesy and would easily make one shake his head in disbelief that the script writers would throw in something like that into an otherwise well written script.
The animation for the most part is also relatively weak. As a direct-to-DVD animated feature, Hellboy Animated's animation does not stand up well to other animated feature adaptations of comic book superheros It is stiff, with bland camera angles and uninteresting storyboarding. The visuals are painfully simple, along the lines of animated TV series much less a animated feature. One would think that Mike Mignola's streamlined art style, minimalist colouring and dark, grim and quirky visuals form the comic book would be easy to adapt to animation. They were able to capture Mignola's art style perfectly with "The Amazing Screw On Head" that was released a month earlier from Hellboy Animated. Alas, the production company chose not to stick to that look and went with another stylised look that, in my humble opinion, looked absolutely horrible.
The character designs looked like a splicing of Kim Possible, Danny Phantom, and some of the worst looking episodes from the 90s Batman animated series and Transformers Animated. Body Proportions are almost laughable and the overall look comes across as cheap and lazy. This show would not have looked out of place when aired on Saturday mornings after Spongebob Squarepants.
Thankfully, a highly enjoyable script and excellent character chemistry saves this show from being a utter failure. Dark Humour, witty comebacks and entertaining banter among the characters. The movie captures the quirkiness of the comics very well and the actors from the film reprise their roles, lending to the feel of continuity.
This one is really a mixed bag. If you can get pass the overall under-budgeted look and cheap-o feel of the animation then make your way through one mess of a story smelling like cheese, you got a really entertaining animated movie on your hands. Fun to watch, but little else beyond that. -
chrisbeaver29 October 2006I caught this on its Cartoon Network debut, after about two weeks of waiting eagerly for the day to come. After I'd witnessed the Sci-Fi Channel's absolutely brilliant "Amazing Screw-On Head", also a creation of Mike Mignola, maybe my hopes were too high that this would have the same edge and charm and wit. It didn't quite hit that peak. Considering the audience, I guess it couldn't have.
Another thing I wasn't prepared for was Abe Sapien being so completely different from his movie incarnation. Not worse, just different. Despite having most of the same voice actors, don't come into this movie expecting it to be a translation of the live film.
Artistically, it's pretty great stuff. I watch the DeviantArt gallery of one of the film's concept artists, and minus some tweaking on the designs to make them easier to animate they kept it pretty consistent to the art direction. The character designs of the supporting characters are pretty standard stuff, but the film also boasts some truly beautiful layouts and artwork with rich and well-used color. Animation's kinda choppy in places, but nothing too bad.
I kinda wish the script and voice acting really stepped up to plate; despite its efforts there was only one line in the whole film I really laughed at. Still, it was a good way to spend two hours. I'd watch it again. -
Not being a fan of the Hellboy franchise I might be a bit bias here but I gave this animated effort a go and walked away rather unimpressed.
First of all I was struck how childish it all was, this is closer to a Saturday morning cartoon than an anime or anything of Hellboys general demographic.
Thankfully the full movie cast do in fact reprise their roles which certainly gets it points.
The story however gets few, being an over convoluted tale of Japanese demons trapped within a samurai sword.
The fanbase is clearly there, writing this in 2017 and people are still pining for a third movie.
I'd say this is one for the Hellboy fans and the Hellboy fans alone.
The Good:
Original cast
The Bad:
Liz & Abe look weird
Story simply isn't very good
Weirdly "Kiddie"
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
Nothing, I just had it reconfirmed that I find Hellboy a bit of a bore -
TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews30 March 2012After a professor opens an enchanted scroll, the BPRD have to face the threat of two gods(Storm and Lightning) returning, and awakening their brothers, the dragons, and ending the reign of man on Earth. Hellboy himself(who spends almost all of this isolated from the others, on a sort of spirit quest, defeating a handful of fairly distinguished mythical creatures from Asian folklore - spiders, cannibalism, those kinds of things... admittedly, that does lead to this having a video-game structure, with just one fight sequence after another, and there is only minimal connection between them; they just wanted a lot of these beings in the same production) has to protect the titular sword, which holds the power to release the duo. Abe and Liz are together on a mission, supporting each other and developing their relationship, with her having to deal with her powers(in that they are extremely useful, yet they make her feel like, as she puts it, "a freak") and him going far to help keep her safe. This is roughly 78 minutes, including the short end credits. Having not read the comics, I can't say if this lives up to the source material. The style appears to be pretty similar, and certainly quite non-threatening. Animation is nice, with some visual ingenuity and use of colors to set tone(this is effective at being creepy, at establishing mood and at very sharp turns in our perception of something as a positive or negative presence) if nothing terribly creative about the camera-work and editing(considering the possibilities, when one doesn't have the laws of physics that constrict live features). The voice acting is well-done. This gets some extra appeal to those of us who only know these great characters from the movies by it being the same trio, and they make the transition well(Perlman is just as enjoyable here as in the flicks, and steals the show here, as well). I suppose you could argue that Blair sounds slightly off, and slightly overdoing it here and there. The plot is sufficiently engaging and there is a fair balance between eerie, mysterious beings and the like and explanation so you aren't completely weirded out. This is well-paced, you're not bored and there's a solid amount of action, as well as catching up on what's going on, with consistently rising stakes throughout. The humor comes very naturally to it and is genuinely funny. Dialog is very well-written. We change locations numerous times, and you don't get bored with the setting. And yes, Red does get to swing that blade a bit. One could probably follow this reasonably going into it blind, not knowing who these people are, etc. The DVD comes with slightly longer extras put together than the picture itself: An informational commentary track by Mike Mignola, Tad Stones, Phil Weinstein, and interesting featurettes: 42 and a half minute Keepers of Hellboy(the first scene of the film, then a panel of the creators of this at a con), To Hell & Back(10 minutes), Conquering Hellboy: The Actor's Role(6 and a half minutes), View From The Top(5 and a half minutes), A New Breed(5 minutes), Hellboy Goes East: Tail Spin(3 minutes), Hellboy Goes East: Samurai Songs(3 minutes), Hellboy Goes East: Prop Prefecture(2 and a half minutes) and Hellboy Goes East: Origins(2 and a half minutes). There is violent and disturbing content in this. I recommend this to fans of the franchise. 7/10
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disdressed1212 August 2008to me,this is animated Hellboy feature is a mixed bag.firstly, i thought the story was pretty slow.the concept was interesting,but it didn't translate well onto the screen.some of the animation was pretty good,and some of it was pretty poor.the fight scenes were pretty good,i'll admit,and there were some funny bits.the voice acting was good,but it should be,since the same a lot of the actors in the live action features are in this one.i also found that the story,in addition to not being that interesting,was overly complicated and got bogged down quite a bit.there are some things which don't really seem to have context,and could have been left out.still,it wasn't anywhere near the worst movie i've seen.for me,Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms is a 5/10
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terriblemonster17 February 2007Supposedly only 75 minutes long, but it feels nearly twice that, Sword of Storms is exactly what you don't want the Hellboy movie to be. It manages the trifecta of bad animated movies, to wit:
1.) Bad Voice-Acting - Someone apparently told Selma Blair to growl all her lines (deadpan), and while Perlman and Doug Jones were great, they weren't enough to make up for the rest of the straight-to-video players. I really don't need to hear Phil Lamarr do his stock suburban white kid voice ever again.
2.) Clunky, Boring Animation - I can accept that the native Hellboy style probably wouldn't work in an animated movie, but why would you go with this? It's as if a low-budget anime and Ultimate Avengers had a particularly ugly child. I wouldn't be surprised if Sword of Storms shares an animation studio with Ultimate Avengers, it's crap.
3.) More minutes than story - There's a gigantic lull in this movie, worse than any Bond Film, nestled neatly between the beginning and end. This part is especially disappointing because Mignola actually wrote this incarnation of Hellboy. Combind with the clunky, slow, thrill-less animation style the movie utterly fails to redeem itself with the climax. I was too deep in my coma/stupor to enjoy Hellboy punching things, and that's saying something.
This is the kind of movie you can only enjoy as light background music, the instant you take an interest in the story it will disappoint. -
OttoVonB30 March 2007Mike Mignola's Hellboy is a treasure among comics, both for its jovial quirk and its sublime hyper-contrasty visuals, both of which defy translation to the screen.
Guillermo Del Toro's 2004 feature film pulled this off to a certain extent, in no small part thanks to judicious casting (particularly Ron Perlman as our hero). The present experiment was designed as filler before the 2008 release of The Golden Army, and perhaps to probe audience interest in a longer-running animated spin-off.
After a nifty prologue introducing our redesigned protagonists - Hellboy has hoofs again, as in the comic - charges forth with an adventure encompassing Medieval Japan and a mystic sword, blending several genres with an ease that does the source material justice. Retaining the film's voice cast also gives this a sense of legitimacy and continuity.
The story and tone might put off some newcomers, but kudos to the producers for defending Hellboy's acquired taste status. Fans will also note that while the story is mostly original, a small episode with a group of flying heads follows one of Mignola's short stories to the letter.
What makes this fall short of classic cult status is the animation and visual style in general. Not only is this not the stuff to give Pixar or Disney sleepless nights, but with the comic's visual language so unique and compelling, why veer so far from it here? The earlier - and far superior - Mignola-penned Adventures of Screw-On Head is proof that the style is easily adaptable, so it's a shame not to see similar care here.
An interesting experiment, but sadly not all it could have been. -
Hellboy: Sword of Storms (2006) is a movie in my DVD collection that I recently watched again on Tubi. The storyline follows Hellboy as he investigates an artifact, a sword, that whisks him off to a mysterious land that needs his help. The land is ruled by various haunts tied to the sword Hellboy now wields. Hellboy's friends will try and bring him back to our world while he tries to return to them from his new found surroundings. This movie is directed by Phil Weinstein (Balto II & III) and contains the voices of Ron Pearlman (Sons of Anarchy), Selma Blair (Cruel Intentions) and Doug Jones (The Shape of Water). The animation for this picture is excellent and captures the Hellboy universe well. The storyline is okay and contains several elements/sub plots from the comic book series. The monsters in this are very entertaining and well depicted and it was great they brought back the voices from the movies. The film is very well paced in its hour and twelve minute run time and it has a worthwhile conclusion. Overall this is an above average animated picture worth your time. I'd score this a 7/10 and recommend seeing it once.
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I'm a fan of Hellboy. I'll get that out of the way first. But the Live Action movie was painful. So I wasn't surprised when I liked Sword of Storms better, but it was still sorely lacking.
While I like that Hellboy got to swear occasionally, and I love the dialog, a lot of this movie seemed to fail to live up to the award-winning style and substance of Hellboy as a comic book. For one thing, the animation was a little childish to me. It seemed too much like they were watering down the Hellboy world to make it appealing to kids. Unfortunately, they then include a lot of blood and some swearing to make it inappropriate for kids. The dialog seemed very forced in some places, like the voice actors were just reading lines and not interested in the characters at all.
Some of the little "episodes" that Hellboy goes through, though, are enjoyable. The scene where he faces the disembodied heads is almost straight out of the comic books, and the real highlight of this otherwise disappointing tale. What really damaged this movie for me, though, was the clumsy attempt at characterization. Liz Sherman woes about being pyknotic, the psychic guy is thoroughly annoying, and the big bad demons at the end are more reminiscent of stereotypical anime theme villains than actual threats to the world. While I applaud the attempt, this one just didn't work for me. I do hope they work a little harder on the next ones and really develop the potential they have here. -
morrison-dylan-fan11 March 2016With Easter coming up I started looking for an animated title that a pal would enjoy watching over the holiday.Seeing clips of the latest superhero flicks,I remembered hearing about an animated Hellboy movie from a few years ago,which led to me picking up the sword of stone.
The plot:
Reading an ancient scroll, Professor Sakai unleashes a number of demon spirits.Learning that the demons are after a mythical sword, Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense agents Hellboy, Kate Corrigan and Russell Thorne locate the sword.Shortly after picking up the sword,Hellboy vanishes into another dimension.Finding himself in a new dimension,Hellboy decides that he must untangle the myths entwined round the sword.
View on the film:
Making his (feature) animation debut,co-writer/(along with Matt Wayne & Mike Mignola) director Tad Stones gives the title a stylish,rough edge,Anima- inspired appearance,with the pulpy colours linking the film to its comic-book roots.For the screenplay,the writers stray into creepy horror,as flying heads and vengeful ghosts splat the screen.Taking a road movie approach,the writers disappointingly make the film feel a slow-paced,due to Hellboy being placed on an obstacle course which lacks any threatening atmosphere.Taking on the voice after playing him in the live action takes, Ron Perlman gives a wonderful performance as Hellboy,thanks to Perlman hitting Hellboy's action roar with a deadpan dry with,as Hellboy discovers a new sword in the stones. -
vailsy30 June 2007i luckily(?) rented this movie, and tried to watch it but couldn't do this in chunks of any more than a few minutes at a time and did not make it to the end
there were several reasons for this:
-the voice overs were just absolutely rubbish. i could record a bunch of people off the street and get more inspired performances than these. in particular i hated the cliché Asian accents and apathetic tones
-the animation itself was of a poor standard. totally flat and with no fluidity at all. just lots of bland colours
-the story was very very poor with no focus at all
-the movie is loud, loud and more loud
-the DVD i watched had no subtitles? clearly the makers tried extremely hard to borrow from Asian animation, failed totally and then did not even have the decency to provide subtitles in at least Chinese or Japanese.. or in German, french or English for that matter
if this is the standard of western animations I'll continue to look elsewhere because this is absolutely sub standard -
Cartoon TV movies are not uncommon in the world of popular characters. Several icons have had theatrical runs and then later on are moved to TV movies. Some stuck with live-action, while others turned to different methods. For Guillermo Del Toro's Hellboy (2004), animation was the next route. For a few reasons, it's understandable to why this was the definitive choice. First and foremost, animation is cheaper than live- action. The second reason would be the demographic. If it's a cartoon, there's a good chance more children would end up seeing it. A third possible reason was to see if it would turn into a series. A perfect example of this would be the TV movie / Direct-to-DVD release of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins (2000). After its success, the cartoon became a running TV series on the Disney Channel. It's interesting because this could have been like that but there are some things holding it back too.
It's difficult to say what time this installment of Hellboy takes place. Since Dr. Broom (Hellboy's father) is not shown, it is assumed that it takes place after the first theatrical film. When a magical katana sword possesses the body of a Japanese Sword Historian, Hellboy, Liz and Abe Sapien are brought in. However, this doesn't exactly make it that much more exciting story wise. The story is about Hellboy taking on another spirit creature but it feels very detached from its predecessor. Just because it's not live-action doesn't mean the story can't continue from the events of the last movie. The back-story to the mystical katana sword is a bit cliché but not too dull to be bored with. The section of writing that suffers the most is the plot. Hellboy ends up being caught up in a mystical world where he has to find his way out and it takes up the majority of the movie. This is where it feels slow - even for a little over 70 minutes.
Another problem in this feature is the animation itself. The flow of how the characters move isn't that smooth. The mouth work to the voice acting looks rather rigid as well. And what's with Hellboy's design? A huge upper torso and scrawny goat legs? I think that could be evened out a little more. An element that doesn't need any fixing however is the level that this cartoon sets itself at. Meaning, it's edgy. Not edgy enough to have curvaceous women in it, but it does have some disturbing images, close to heavy violence and several swears. This is good and all but it does bring into question if this film was made for children. If it was made for children, all the things mentioned prior should've been toned down. And if it was for adults, it should've been made like the HBO Spawn series. The action and creature designs are note worthy though. Dark and creepy cartoons are not as common among animation movies so that's a plus.
For voice acting is definitely smart of the casting department to grab ahold of Ron Perlman and Selma Blair. Their voices can't be replaced. The same also should've gone for David Hyde Pierce who voiced Abe Sapien from the live-action run. Nothing on Doug Jones who was the physical representation of Abe, but Pierce has always been the voice of scientific sounding characters. Jones' voice as his own character doesn't accomplish that same feat. Phil LaMarr also has a few voice roles too. Listen for him. The score composed by Christopher Drake is well done. His tracks represent the scenes properly and he also maintains the establish recognizable theme Marco Beltrami had created from the first movie. That is commendable considering most composers either ignore or forget these key pieces. Its fun but not engaging enough like the original.
It provides some of the same quality like the original with its returning cast of voices, edgy action, grotesque creatures and music, but its writing isn't as polished. The story elements aren't as captivating as they were from before. -
TedStixonAKAMaximumMadness14 August 2016The first of two animated features starring the big, red demon- turned- good-guy himself, "Sword of Storms" is a fun little diversion for fans of action and adventure, and for that kid inside all of us. Providing just enough chuckles and good-natured thrills to not only appeal to long time franchise fans, but also for newcomers alike, this is a very entertaining cartoon feature. Though it most certainly isn't without its own series of flaws and issues that holds it just a bit shy of being fantastic.
Featuring voice-over work by cast-members of the two big-screen Hellboy flicks and featuring producers Guillermo del Toro (director of the live-action movies) and Mike Mignola (original creator of the character), this is definitely a worthy way to expand the overall media franchise. Especially when combined with the talents of director Tad Stones (creator of "Darkwing Duck" and producer/director/storyboard artist on numerous other cartoon productions), who is a great fit for the material.
While investigating a new case with the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) is magically transported to a mystical kingdom populated with various monsters, creatures and forces straight out of Japanese folklore. While fellow agents Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) and Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) try to solve the mysteries at-hand, Hellboy must battle through this strange new world in order to get home and help his allies stop a much larger threat.
While it is decidedly far more friendly towards older children and young teens than the comics or big-screen adaptations ever were, it's still a fairly appealing movie and even as someone in his late 20's, I still eat it up whenever I pop in my copy. It may be a bit too intense for particularly younger kids (I wouldn't really recommend it or its follow-up to anyone under 8, personally), but it's still something that I think the whole family could get a kick out of.
The voice-over work is quite good and helps usher in audiences familiar with the live-action films, particularly Ron Perlman, who I'm convinced could play Hellboy in his sleep. (It's a role he was born to play, though he tragically has only had the chance to play him a handful of times between the films and animated features.) Blair and Jones are also a lot of fun.
Though don't be confused- this is definitely a new "continuity" and "canon" and isn't a direct follow-up to the movies. It exists in its own sort-of "parallel universe" despite the recurring cast- members. (As creator Mike Mignola has been pretty adamant that any adaptations across different media do their own thing and reinterpret his characters in new ways.)
The story is fun, many of the sequences are quirky and reminiscent of works like "Alice in Wonderland" or "Wizard of Oz", and it's very solidly directed. Also, the score by Christopher Drake is very nice and I really appreciated that he incorporated some of the themes composed by Marco Beltrami for the original live-action movie.
That being said, there are some flaws. A few of the supporting characters come across as, well... too cartoonish. Yes, that may sound paradoxical in a cartoon, but there's a few roles that just feel out of place and too needlessly light-hearted compared to the others. In addition, the film feels disjointed at times, with segments that are far too disconnected to really gel into the overall narrative. And I'd be lying if I said a few jokes and dialog exchanges didn't feel contrived and sloppy.
But overall, I can't complain too much. It rises above its flaws thanks to good humor, great action beats and the lovable cast.
I give it a pretty-good 7 out of 10. Worth checking out for sure. As is its superior sequel "Blood & Iron." -
Ron Perlman is awesome as Hellboy. This is a scientific fact; even the critics who disliked the 2004 live-action 'Hellboy' admitted that Perlman owned the screen. So, now we have the animated 'Sword of Storms', and it's a great first outing in what I hope will become a regular series.
Beginning with a great action sequence where Hellboy (Perlman again), fish-man Abe Sapien (voice of Doug Jones), and pyrokinetic Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) fight a giant bat god and some Mayan zombies, the film rockets towards Japan, where a professor has become possessed by the demons Thunder and Lightning. The demons were trapped in the Sword of Storms, and Hellboy is transported to a mythological Japanese world when he picks up the sword. Now the big red guy must deal with floating heads, spider-women, kappas, and Thunder and Lightning themselves in a battle to (recite in unison) save the world.
First things first: The animation itself is pretty sweet. The action is kinetic and exciting, and I loved just how odd some of the creatures Hellboy faced were. Seriously, how can you not like floating heads that demand to know where Hellboy has hidden their bodies? True, there are times where the character movements are a tad jerky, but it's splendid overall.
The same goes for the voice acting. Perlman once more owns the movie as the voice of Hellboy, and his laid-back attitude to all the weirdness surronding him is hilarious. Doug Jones is very good as Abe Sapien; in the live-action film, an uncredited David Hyde-Pierce voiced Abe, and while Pierce did a good job, Jones brings an everyman likability to the role. I liked Peri Gilpin as Hellboy's friend Agent Kate Corrigan (I hope we see more of this character in the future) and the miscellaneous characters are voiced well. Selma Blair, on the other hand, does not fare so well as Liz; she seems bored, frankly, and bored is not the same as the laid-back attitudes of Perlman and Jones.
Despite a fairly episodic plot, and the aforementioned lackluster Selma Blair, 'Sword of Storms' is extremely entertaining, and it gives me high hopes for the future. -
zwjonas24 April 2021Has a unique feel to it and sets itself apart. Worth a watch.
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jimpyke30 December 2006I've been a Hellboy reader from the day the first issue of the comic hit the stands. When the live action movie came out I liked it, but thought it could've been a lot better. This movie, however, gave me the "a lot better" that I was hoping for: really fun and interesting MYTHOLOGICAL story (with interesting little bits of cultural details like the comics always have); interestingly plotted story that cuts backward and forward in time in a smart and engaging way; lots of cool, scary bad guys; and better written dialog than I thought the live action had, including better one-liners from HB.
I watched it with my six year old boy - checking in with him and explaining stuff if I felt nervous that he might be scared by anything in it - and he loved it too. I think it a great HB movie for a wide age range - again, like the comics.
The animation was sharp and detailed, but I kind of wished that the character designs and background work came closer to Mignola's originals. I guess if that were so, though, it would have probably been a much darker, scarier, and more "experimental" looking movie - all of which would have altered it's demographics a lot, and maybe killed it's financing in the process.
All in all I'd really recommend it. -
stinger0120 June 2008i really liked this movie i felt that it captured the spirit of the both the comics and the movie. The animation in this movie is nearly spot on but is still good in it's own way the story is nice and easy to follow and has some good action sequences that hellboy is famous for. I was pleasantly surpirsed to find out that all the acotrs from the movie did voice work for there characters in this movie i was a little upset to find out that doug jones only did the movement for ape in the first movie as i felt he did a great job doing voice work. The designs for this movie look amazing even tho it's animation i really thought that those were really locations overall this is a good spin off film that really enjoyed watching.
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q-6963124 March 2020I love Hellboy and I really wish it got more representation. I love mythology, comics, adaptations, the typical comic nerd fan. The art style reminds me of a cartoon show like Kim possible which begs the question: Why couldn't this be turned into a television series?!