Customer Rating: 
Summary: Just As Good As The Live Action Movie
Comment: I thought Hellboy Animated Sword Of Storms was an exellent movie. It is just as good as the live action movie. I love the that Ron Perlman does the voice of Hellboy makes it really really good.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Overall opinion? Impressed. Three & a half stars
Comment: Normally you get these animated spin off shows, and the actors from the original show will either disown them, or lose interest very quickly. I'm never that keen on watching them. But since Hellboy 2 isn't released in the UK until August, I'm trying to stay in the Hellboy mood, by watching Hellboy stuff.
I was really surprised by Sword of Storms. It had an excellent storyline, and featured the characters from the original AND the actors even returned to voice them. I was slightly disappointed in Liz's portrayal in the movie - she seemed to have a random nose piercing and her hair was long. But when I watched the extras, it looked like Liz was actually based around how Selma Blair's hair was at the time. Ron Perlman (my birthday twin) also appears in the extras which is really good.
The storyline is very involving, and much better than I expected. A Japanese university professor reads a forbidden scroll and becomes possessed by the twin demons Thunder & Lightning. When they want to come to the human world, Hellboy arrives in Japan and then finds a mysterious sword, which transports him to the world of Japanese folklore. The story does mainly feature around Hellboy, with Abe and Liz wondering where he has disappeared to, and perhaps a romantic undertone to their relationship?
I haven't seen Blood & Iron as yet, but no doubt will do at some point. I hope for the same from that as I got from this. And I'm looking forward to Hellboy 2 in August!
Customer Rating:
Summary: More Hellboy
Comment: I found this animated movie pretty awesome. There are moments were the dialog is simple, especially with the final boss/bad guys but over all i found it entertaining. It's just more Hellboy. Its filled with enough content to please any Hellboy fan, plus the voice actors are the same as the live action films.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Hellboy vs. Japan
Comment: Hellboy serves up exactly what I love. Creator Mike Mignola pits his gruff red giant against a magical mystery tour of the world's dark realm of gods and monsters, delving deep into authentic folklore and legends, serving up a concoction that is part scholarly research, part Gothic horror, and full-on balls-out entertainment. The problem comes when transferring a creation that is such a singular vision of its creator, with a unique art-style and atmosphere, into a fluid medium. It is rarely going to be a complete success, and the best attempts come when the animation team brings something new to the character, something that couldn't be achieved within the confines of the printed page.
"Hellboy: Sword of Storms" attempts to strike a balance between the "Hellboy" movie, which was a decent adaptation, and the original comic. Most of the original cast has been brought in for the voices, which is a real coupe as they are already familiar with the characters. That makes a nice grounding point for the audience as well, as there are no shocks or disappointments when they start speaking. The animation could have been a little stronger, and shows the influence of Paul Dini's now-familiar "The Animated Series" style that most comic animations follow. In the DVD extras, it is revealed that the animators wanted to use the actual look of Mignola's art-style, but they were contractually forbidden to do so, which is a bit of a shame.
For the storyline, Hellboy is sent against the invisible realms of Japanese mythology, attempting to return back to the physical world while retaining possession of the Sword of Storms, a mystical samurai sword, and thus save the world. As usual, the monsters are all authentic creatures from Japan, including the gods of Thunder and Lightning. He takes on a kappa, an oni, a joroguma, rokurokubi and the collection of nukekubi that was adapted from the Mignola story "Heads". Even with the deviations in the visual style, the story is pure Hellboy, and it is great to see it animated. I do miss the subtlety of the comic, with the tiny background details that manifest the atmosphere, but even without that I would call this a successful adaptation.
The DVD extras are a real boost as well, with interviews with Mignola detailing the creation of Hellboy, and even more fascinating are interviews with the director and animation team explaining the choices they made when transferring the comic to moving pictures. Its makes one a little more forgiving when you realize the compromises that had to be made, and they they did their best to retain the integrity of the work of art they all adore.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A good start to a cool franchise
Comment: I am not a huge Mike Mignola or Hellboy fan just so you know where I stand. Not that I have anything against them, I think he's a creative writer and artist and that Hellboy is definitely an awesome character. I thought the live action movie had a cool look to it so once Hellboy made the leap to the animated world, I couldn't resist.
The first thing that stood out to me when I started watching it was the music. It's sounds just like the live action soundtrack which helps you remember this is an extension of the movie and not a Saturday morning cartoon. The character designs for animation are pretty bright and cartoony, but not to the point of being distracting. I suppose it could have been a little more dark and shadowy like the comic but that's a minor complaint. The voice acting is pretty decent, Ron Pearlman's voice proves to be just as well suited for the animated Hellboy as the live action one. Selma Blair was a little bland but so is her character I guess. Plus this was her first time doing animation so I suppose she deserves a break. Doug Jones takes over the voice of Abe from David Hyde Pearce and I guess they liked him so much he'll now be voicing him in the live action sequel. Peri Gilpin also joins the cast and adds a new dynamic to the team. The only one missing is Prof. Broom unfortunately.
The featurettes on here are great, with plenty of behind the scenes, interviews with Mignola about creating Hellboy, and a very in depth look at the character design during the comic con panel. It even comes with a mini comic of the animated Hellboy. So while I think it was a cool idea and had some decent action, I think they could do better, and am looking forward to checking out the sequel Blood and Iron.
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