Hellboy: Sword of Storms

by: Average Joe October 29 2006

Everyone’s favorite paranormal detective makes his animated debut in a story that has him traveling to Japan to square off against an array of demons including thunder and lightning themselves.

I just sat down to watch my advance copy of Hellboy: Sword of Storms, and I’ll admit that going into this movie I was a bit hesitant on whether or not Hellboy would transition as well into animation as he did onto the big screen in 2004.

Being a big fan of Hellboy means I am really picky when it comes to how the big guy is presented, however when it was announced during the production of this animated feature that actors from the film would be reprising their roles, namely Ron Perlman as Hellboy, Selma Blair as Liz Sherman, and Doug Jones as Abe Sapien, a lot of my reservations were put to rest….except for, how would he look??

The look of Hellboy is pretty simple: Big red guy with the “horseshoe” (hair around the sides but not on top) hair cut, trench coat, sawed off horns, and of course an oversized right hand made of stone a.k.a the Right Hand of Doom.

So when Sean “Cheeks” Galloway was signed on as the character concept designer, and the first official image of how “Big Red” would look like was released back in November 2005, I was officially excited for this film. Everything just seemed to fit into place perfectly.

After the initial Hellboy picture was released, the designs for Abe, Liz and the rest of the supporting cast was released in the months to come and they all looked equally as fantastic as Hellboy did.

But how would it look animated?

During the entire duration of this film (approx 90 min) I was amazed by how fluid the animation was. From the movement of the characters, to the amazing settings in the film, I was literally in awe from start to finish. The characters of Mike Mignola’s comic have never looked better as they are presented in some of the best animation I have ever seen before.

As beautiful as the animation in the film is, for me it was the voice acting that really made this film as enjoyable as it was. Reuniting the film’s cast was a stroke of genius on the producers part as I’m sure they’ve realized just like the rest of us that NO ONE can play Hellboy live action or animated like Ron Perlman can. Perlman’s signature gravely voice combined with Hellboy’s wise cracking attitude is a recipe for greatness in my book. Some of the lines that Hellboy spits out, namely during his battle with Thunder and Lightning actually had me laughing out loud, and showed just how much fun the crew must’ve had making this film.

In addition to Perlman, Selma Blair and Doug Jones reprise their respective roles as Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien. Although Liz is presented a bit differently in Sword of Storms, the essence of the character remains intact, and Blair uses the same magic that made Liz so believable in the live action film to the animated feature.

If there was one person I had concerns about it was Doug Jones and his portrayal of Abe Sapien. Although Jones played Sapien in the live action film, the character’s voice was provided by David Hyde Pierce. When it was announced that Jones would be providing the voice of Sapien in Sword of Storms, I was a bit hesitant since I had never actually heard him speak before, and Pierce’s voice seemed so perfect for the character. I will admit that initially I didn’t like Jones’ voice, however as the film progressed it grew on me, and I actually ended up liking it just as much as I did Pierce’s voice from the live action film. An interesting thing to note is that Jones will provide the voice for Abe in the sequel entitled The Golden Army, so fans should get used to the new sounding Abe.

The writing itself was pretty good, although at times I think the story seemed to lag just a bit…this was few and far between. Each character was writen to perfection, and the dialogue was superb. The action in the film is terrific. The opening scene involving the team battling a giant bat and a group of Aztec zombies is fantastic, and the final battle between Hellboy, Thunder and Lightning is one of the best animated battles I’ve seen in a long, long time.

Overall Hellboy: Sword of Storms is an animated masterpiece that fans are sure to fall in love with. Whether you’re a fan of the Hellboy comics, or just looking for some quality animation, with an outstanding voice cast, this film has something for everyone.