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Title: Hellboy: Sword of Storms
Director Phil Weinstein & Tad Stones
Starring Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Peri Gilpin
Rated: PG
Release Date: February 6, 2007

When Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy movie was initially released back in 2004, I knew nothing of the comic books or the franchise in general — and at the time I wasn’t overly fussed with how things may develop. Since then I later got hold of the director’s cut of the movie, and absolutely loved it — this prompted me to acquire the two animated Hellboy movies,Sword of Storms and Blood & Iron.

Starring all the main cast members from the movie (except John Hurt, but he’s is in Blood & Iron though) and penned by comic book writer Mike Mignola, Sword of Storms tells the story of a folklore professor that reads a forbidden scroll, and subsequently gets possessed by two Japanese demons of Thunder and Lightening. When the Bureau for Paranormal Research & Defense send Hellboy, Liz, and Abe Sapien to investigate, Hellboy inadvertently gets transported to a land of Japanese folklore leaving Liz and Abe to deal with the strange goings on around the world.

Something I always love about animation is the scope is always much larger, and only confined by scriptwriters and animators imaginations. This is exploited to the fullest in Sword of Storms, which in part seems to take inspiration from Genndy Tartakovsky’s Samurai Jack in Hellboy’s surreal Japanese fantasyland.

The style of the movie is very true to Mignola’s comic books, in both artwork and script. This helps to keep a good balance of action and humour. However, something that grated on my nerves a little bit is the overuse of Hellboy’s catchphrase “Oh, crap.” It does fit the character and is funny when used… but it is used a lot.

Something that disappointed me about del Toro’s movie was that Abe Sapien seemed to be a bit underused as a character. This isn’t the case in the animated counterparts. Abe actually kicks some ass, which I was very pleased about. However, a similar emphasis is laid on Blair’s Liz Sherman character’s pyrotechnic abilities in this movie, almost as though the scriptwriters feel they can’t allow the character to evolve at all. I see this as a particular shame as I tend to love movies involving pyrokenesis (X-Men 2, Firestarter anyone?).

Casting-wise, I think the characters are played/voiced perfectly. I still can’t think of a better actor to portray Hellboy. And I’m very glad that the original cast were able to voice both animated outings for their on-screen counterparts.

The story and plot twists in Sword of Storms are good fun, with flying disembodied heads, large spider-women, and some interesting dragon-come-squid monsters that Abe and Liz have to deal with. There is enough going on to keep you entertained, even if you’re not a die-hard Hellboyfanatic.

All in all, Hellboy: Sword of Storms is a good rounded animated movie, and it’s not too long at a respectable 73 minutes. However, I wouldn’t recommend the movie for young children due to some mild profanities with fantasy gore and violence. If you like Guillermo del Toro’s depiction of theHellboy universe, you’ll definitely like the animated equivalents — and they’re great for getting in the mood for the forthcoming Hellboy II.

Hellboy: Blood & Iron
Director by Victor Cook, Tad Stones
Starring Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, John Hurt, Peri Gilpin
Rated: PG
Release Date: June 12, 2007

“Oh, crap.” Get used to hearing it, becauseHellboy’s second animated outing Blood & Iron has the main protagonist using the phrase a lot. However, unlike Sword of Storms, this animated feature is less surreal and more gothic.

The story is a good old-fashioned vampire tale, focusing on a female bloodsucker called Erzsebet Ondrushko (voiced by Kath Soucie) that bathed in the blood of her victims in order to stay young. The vampire was despatched by Professor Broom (John Hurt) back in 1939, but now someone is trying to bring her back in upstate New York, and the Bureau for Paranormal Research & Defense are brought in to investigate. Hellboy, Liz Sherman, and Abe Sapien think they are investigating a haunted house — but with Professor Broom going with them to investigate personally, they’re more worried about him than anything else.

Blood & Iron may be less fantastical than its animated predecessor, but I actually enjoyed this movie more for exactly that reason — the fact that the movie seems more grounded. I think I enjoyed this feature more due to the inclusion of John Hurt’s character — the way Hellboy views him as a father and wants him to stay safe is a good plot mechanic, and with the character’s exclusion from Sword of Storms, I was left disappointed in that respect.

Character-wise, all of the live-action movie’s cast are present once more and are perfect in their roles. Abe Sapien’s ass-kickery is present once more, which I always enjoy. The artwork and script are all top-notch, overused catchphrases aside. Mike Mignola’s comic has been faithfully recreated yet again, and perfectly bridges the gap between the comic and live-action movie.

Plot-wise it can be a little predictable at times, even down to the inclusion of the goddess Hecate (which is repeatedly mispronounced much to my irritation). Hecate’s interest in Hellboy echoes Guillermo del Toro’s movie bad guy Rasputin, in terms of trying to get Hellboy to “fulfil his destiny” and destroy mankind.

Anyway bad points aside Hellboy: Blood & Iron is still a thoroughly enjoyable animated feature. Its good fun, and the characters are likeable and the action is fast and furious to say the least. After watching both this and Sword of Storms, all I need to do now is re-watch the director’s cut ofHellboy, and I’ll be ready for Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

[Originally published via The Geeks of Doom for the Hellboy "Week of Geek"]

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