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.
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.