Hellboy animado: La espada de las tormentas

After 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

Not 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.

At 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.

Live 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.

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.