Hellboy: Sword of Storms

Published on March 9, 2007 By warreni In Movie Reviews

I just returned the Hellboy: Sword of Storms DVD to Netflix. In many ways, I found the movie to be superior to the live-action version. The characters felt very similar, thanks to the fact that the filmmakers hired most of the same actors for the animated movie. The story seemed to flow much more naturally than in the live-action film, probably because this story was written specifically for this medium and this movie. I have commented previously in this space about how I felt the live-action movie tried to cram too much Hellboy mythology into an average movie running time, with the result that the story felt disjunct and incoherent. This movie takes for granted that the viewer has a certain base level of familiarity with the characters and proceeds from there. There is the merest hint of an "introduction" where a voice-over describes Hellboy's arrival on Earth and the formation of the B.P.R.D. in about five seconds. The animation is not ultra-sophisticated, but nor is it excessively stylized or anime-like (while it occasionally tells a good story, I can't stand the Teen Titans cartoon because it is drawn in an anime-style that mostly looks ridiculous and rather ugly).

The story follows the B.P.R.D. team's (the team includes Hellboy, Liz Sherman, Abe Sapien, and Kate Corrigan as field agents) efforts to thwart a Japanese antiquities scholar from releasing two powerful and ancient demons called Thunder and Lightning into the world. The scholar stumbles upon an ancient scroll telling a legend of a daimyo plagued by demons who bargains with the evil creatures to save himself and his lands in exchange for the life of his daughter. The pact is thwarted by a samurai possessing a sword of great mystical power (the aftorementioned Sword of Storms), who is able to trap the demons within his sword. As punishment for this betrayal, the samurai is turned to stone by the gods at the behest of the daimyo, who slays his own daughter for dishonoring his family. The act of reading the scroll allows the demons to control the scholar's mind and he seeks to obtain the Sword of Storms from a collector's home. The sword itself fights against him, and he is forced to flee. When Kate and Hellboy arrive to investigate, Hellboy picks up the sword and is transported to an alternate world/dimension where he must fight various monsters that attempt to steal the sword from him or trick him into breaking it and releasing the two demons from their long imprisonment. Meanwhile, Abe and Liz get marooned on a Pacific atoll when the plane in which they are travelling to Japan crashes--and they are assaulted by a large, tentacled creature that the scroll's legend describes as one of the dragons that are brothers to the demons. It probably sounds a lot more confusing than it actually is. The gist of the movie is Hellboy wandering through this alternate reality and battling mythical Japanese creatures and monsters. Kate mostly stands around waiting for him to return, while Abe and Liz spend a lot of time hanging around on an island by themselves. If there are any major problems with the story, they are that Abe and Liz just don't really have that much to do throughout the movie and the whole scroll legend subplot seems a bit tacked-on and pointless.

I feel sorry for Abe Sapien in particular in a way, because he seems to be the most underrated person in Hellboy. He is taken out early on in the live-action film and has very little to do other than hover in a tank, and his character is served little better here, coming across as a guy whose bacon would be cooked many times over (no pun intended) were it not for the presence of Liz.

The movie has no blood and very little swearing; probably the most offensive word in the movie is "dumbass." It is not MPAA-rated as a direct-to-DVD release, although it will probably be rated TV-PG when it airs on Cartoon Network. However, if you are a parent of a smallish child who contemplates renting or buying this DVD for him/her, I would caution you that in the San Diego ComicCon extra, some of the panelists use some foul language that is unsuitable for certain age groups. Of course, thematically speaking, the entire concept of Hellboy is probably not suitable for certain age groups, but I'm sure that's a matter of opinion.

Speaking of extras, the DVD has quite a few. As mentioned above, one is a complete taping of a discussion panel on the movie at the San Diego ComicCon featuring Mike Mignola, Guillermo del Toro, the producer, the director, and the conceptual design artist ("Cheeks"). The panel is a bit long, but it includes a wealth of interesting information on the making of the film, as well as some amusing anecdotes from the panelists.

Other features include glimpses into the recording studio where the actors did voice-work, a look at the making of the musical score, background on how Mignola came up with the idea for Hellboy, and more. On the whole, they were quite informative and interesting, and frankly, the extras are probably what would make this a worthwhile purchase for the Hellboy fan.

Abe was voiced by Doug Jones, who was the actor in the green suit in the live-action movie; Abe in del Toro's movie was voiced by David Hyde Pierce (best known as Frasier's brother), who declined to participate in the animated version. The difference is not particularly jarring. Kate Corrigan, a character not seen in the live-action film, was voiced by another Frasier alumnus, Peri Gilpin. Ron Perlman and Selma Blair reprise their live-action roles as Hellboy and Liz, respectively, and Perlman slides into the character like a well-worn glove. Both here and in the live-action movie, he seems to capture the essence of the character in a profound way.

The art style is very reminiscent of Mignola's art, although, as the extras explain, it was deliberately not identical for contractual reasons. Hellboy and Liz really look similar to their printed counterparts, but Abe (particularly his eyes) and Kate seem different (Kate appears much younger in the film). The filmmakers pointedly state that the animated Hellboy world is not the same as the live-action Hellboy world or the printed-page Hellboy world. There is another animated movie already in the can and slated to air on Cartoon Network March 17, and del Toro is working on Hellboy 2, while Mike Mignola (after watching hours of extras, I still don't know whether the "g" is a strong "g" sound like a Soviet fighter jet or a soft "y" sound like the word "lagniappe"--oh well) is still busily drawing comic books.

Comments

SanChonino

on Mar 18, 2007

I hadn't ever heard of this movie. I sure like the Hellboy comics, and I found the movie interesting, if over-expository as you mentioned. I'm excited for the second; maybe I'll have to check out this animated thingy.

warreni

on Mar 20, 2007

SanChonino,

If you have cable, all of these animated films will eventually be shown on Cartoon Network.

SanChonino

on Mar 20, 2007

If you have cable

No dice. I'll have to rent it.

warreni

on Mar 20, 2007

Well, I recommend you check it out. If you enjoy the comics, you'll probably get a kick out of the ComicCon panel discussion.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!