Hellboy Sword of Storms is Hella Good

Looking through the list of cartoons reviewed on this blog, one thing should become glaringly obvious, I'm a long time comic book geek. Not an unwashed, basement dwelling geek mind you. Just an average joe with several thousand comics taking up room in his closet. I tell you this because despite my long history collecting comics I'm still a relative new comer to the Hellboy franchise. For whatever reason I was never drawn to the character, or its creator's (Mike Mignola) artwork. My first real exposure to Hellboy was the live action movie from 2005 (directed by the fantastic Guillermo del Toro), and despite my generally positive reaction I still lacked any real desire to check out the source material. All that changed with Hellboy animated. Soon after the live action film del Toro and Mignola set out to turn Hellboy into cartoon with two DTV movies. The first was "Sword of Storms" and the second was "Blood and Iron". Something about the look and tone of these two movies piqued my interest in the character, and it wasn't long before I found myself devouring trade paperbacks of Hellboy's original adventures.

Just in case you don't know who Hellboy is I'll explain. Basically Hellboy is a demon from another dimension who was brought to this world - as an infant - to wage war and destroy mankind. Luckily for us Hellboy was rescued and raised by a group of "good men" that later formed the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D. for short). So instead of annihilating us Hellboy protects us from the supernatural things that go bump in the night.

It's this use of the supernatural as an action/adventure vehicle that makes Sword of Storms so much fun. The film starts with a Japanese professor who unwittingly becomes possessed by the two storm demon brothers Thunder and Lighting. The goal of these demons is to free their corporeal forms by destroying the Sword of Storms. Of course the B.P.R.D. is called in and before you know it Hellboy stumbles across the aforementioned sword and is spirited away to another dimension full of feudal Japanese monsters. I could go into more detail but honestly that's all you really need to know.

Not only does Sword of Storms have a solid story (co-written by Mike Mignola himself), it also has fantastic writing. By this I mean that the pacing, dialog and character relationships are all spot on. The film moves at a perfect pace, never bogging down but at the same time never feeling rushed. Banter, especially from Hellboy, is genuinely funny as well. Relationships between the three main characters (Hellboy, Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman) are established early on, feel natural and are fun to watch. This is especially important because the dynamics of Hellboy animated are not the same as the live action film. Liz and Hellboy are not romantically linked in the cartoon, and Abe is far less fragile. I would have to say that with the exception of Liz (who feels like a cross between the comic Liz and the movie Liz), the animated version of these characters are closer to their comic book counterparts than the film versions (personally I think this is a good thing). The story from Sword of Storms also harkens back to the Hellboy comics using folklore as an basis to build the story around (much like Mike Mignola's Hellboy one-shots). The overall movie just feels really tight, not too much or too little, but just right.

In terms of visuals, Sword of Storms is a solid DTV. The animation is very smooth and stylish with nice backgrounds and an attractive color pallet. Compared to other DTVs from the last couple years I will admit that there are better looking films (Wonder Woman and Green Lantern First Flight for example). That said, Hellboy is still on the higher end of animation quality. On the critical side I will call out that there are one or two poorly animated CGI scenes in the movie, still by and large the general look of the film is consistent.

With a great story, solid writing and excellent animation it should be no surprise that the character design from Sword of Storms are - once again - good. This is no easy task since the look of Hellboy animated is completely different than Mike Mignola's comic art style. Where Mignola uses heavy contrast and strong graphical shapes the cartoon version of Hellboy is more in tune with streamlined modern animation styles. Thus the translation of Mignola's art had to be more in "spirit" than in appearance. Luckily the character designer pulls this off relatively well by staying true to the essence of Hellboy while stylizing him in a way that is more appropriate to the medium of animation. Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien also have attractive designs. While these main character design are indeed admirable, the secondary character designs in Sword of Storms are unfortunately lacking. It's not that they look bad per say, it's just a little too "Saturday morning" for my taste. Almost like the characters stepped right out of an episode of the Jackie Chan adventures or something. This is the only real complaint I had with the film, and frankly it's pretty much a non-issue.

Rounding out the strong points from Sword of Storms is the voice acting. Benefiting greatly from their experience in the rolls, Ron Pearlman (Hellboy), Selma Blair (Liz Sherman) and Doug Jones(Abe Sapien) all give fantastic performances. If you've ever heard Ron Pearlman speak then you know that his deep, distinct sound is perfect for Hellboy. Selma Blair's somber, melancholy voice fits the animated incarnation of Liz Sherman very well, as does the David Hyde-Pierce sounding voice that Doug Jones brings to Abe Sapien. Secondary voice actors also turn in strong performances rounding out- what I feel - is one of the better sounding casts you'll find in the DTV arena.

In case you haven't figured it out I'm highly recommending this movie with the following caveat. Hellboy Sword of Storms is closer to PG-13 than it is to PG. There is mild cursing and violence so please keep this in mind before letting youngsters view the film. With that out of the way, Sword of Storms (as well as Blood and Iron) is an all around solid action/adventure DTV. Packed with a ton of good extras the DVD delivers on all fronts and makes a great addition to any action/adventure cartoon collection.

Titan A.E. - Squint really hard and you might see a good film

Having recently re-watched, and reviewed, the animated sci-fi/fantasy film Starchaser: The Legend of Orin, I thought it would be fun to do the same thing for another epic space opera, Titan AE. Titan AE was an animated feature film released in 2000 by Fox Animation Studios. It was helmed by veteran director Don Bluth (along with partner Gary Goldman) and had a lot riding on its success. Unfortunately the movie was a financial failure, and soon after Fox Animation closed its doors for good.

I remember being pretty stoked for this movie back in 2000. A full fledged animated sci-fi/fantasy film was right up my alley, especially since it encompassed both my favorite genre and storytelling medium. Combine that with Don Bluth (the man behind The Secret of Nihm) and I could not see how this movie could go wrong. Sadly, when the closing credits began to roll I found myself both frustrated and disappointed. I could tell that a good movie was in there somewhere, but finding it would have required many fundamental changes in the films animation and story structure.

The story of Titan A.E. goes something like this; in the year 3028 A.D. Earth has been destroyed and the human race now has to wander the universe as galactic drifters. The cause of Earths destruction is the Drej, an alien race comprised entirely of energy. For some reason the Drej fear mankind (something about our boundless creativity) and with the completion of our greatest invention - the Titan spaceship - they decided it would be best to end the human threat by blowing up our planet (can't argue with that logic). The Titan escapes destruction though thanks to its inventor Sam Tucker. Sam manages to launch the Titan and jump to light speed before the Drej can get to it, but in the process he uses up all the energy needed to power the ships true purpose. Before this escape Sam is forced to send his four year old son away on a separate evacuation vessel (since the Titan was the Drej's primary target Sam knew it would be safer this way). During the dramatic goodbye Sam gives his young son Cale a ring and states that "as long as you wear it, there is hope". Fifteen years later Cale is now nineteen years old and works in a space based salvage yard. Soon after the introduction of teenage Cale (complete with cynical, angry attitude) Captain Korso arrives. Korso shows Cale that the ring he still wears is actually a genetically encoded map leading to the location of the Titan. Turns out the Drej are also looking for Cale and before you know it he and Korso find themselves in the middle of a good old fashioned space station shootout. Eventually they escape aboard Korso's ship the Valkyrie, and begin their quest to find the Titan, mankind's last hope. Of course no spaceship is complete without an eclectic crew, and the Valkyrie is no different. Joining Cale and Korso is another human Akima, she is co-pilot of the Valkyrie and obligatory love interest for Cale. On the non-human side we have first mate Preed, navigation expert Gune, and a cranky female weapons/combat officer named Stith. Can this rag-tag bunch find the Titan before the Drej and save mankind? Of course they can, but it’s not the destination that counts, it’s the journey to get there.

As you may have been able to tell from my description above the plot of Titan A.E. is not exactly groundbreaking. It does make for a good action/adventure vehicle however. Executed properly this would be an excellent film. Instead the movie fails in its delivery with uneven story structure and cliché characters. Problem number one occurs during the film's first act. Once Cale joins up with the crew of the Valkyrie we are whisked away to the maps first landmark. With no time to acclimate ourselves to Cale's new surroundings, the movie begins to feel unnaturally rushed. Worse is Cale's capture - and eventual escape - from the Drej. The capture itself serves no purpose other than to allow the Drej to copy Cale's map, and the escape is far too easy and under explained (how is it that Cale can manipulate the Drej energy fields, or fly one of their space craft?). These events just don't feel organic, instead they feel like forced plot points necessary to progress the story. At the same time other important plot points - such as Cale's ability to fix just about anything and Akima's piloting skill - are almost completely ignored. This is especially bad since these character traits play an important role in the movies' climax.

Speaking of characters, I found all three of the central human characters in Titan A.E. to be exceedingly predictable and cliché. I mentioned before that Cale is your typical angry, jaded teenager. He's mad at daddy for leaving him and all he cares about is himself. Of course the journey to find Titan changes all that. Failed attempts to interject humor into Cale don't help either. Jokes about frozen burritos and naming new Earth "Bob" fall completely flat. Korso is even worse (warning I'm about to spoil an important plot point). At first Korso offers Cale friendship and purpose, but Cale soon discovers the ugly truth. Korso is using him to find the Titan so that he can turn it over to the Drej (gasp!). Don't worry though, Korso's betrayal is eventually followed by his redemption as he sacrifices his own life to see the Titan's purpose achieved. Though these are not age old character archetypes they definitely fall into the "modern stereotype" department (much like the space smuggler with a heart of gold, and the naive young hero found in the 1980s). Akima is not as bad but mostly because she lacks definition. Outside of her past as a colony drifter there is very little to be said about Akima. This is unfortunate because I think she had the most potential. A flashback or two from her childhood could have really driven home her passionate desire to find the Titan.

Though I found the story and characters of Titan A.E. somewhat lacking, my real beef with the movie comes from the animation. Have you ever met two beautiful people and thought their children would be gorgeous, only to later find out the kid's butt ugly? Such is the case with Titan A.E. The traditional cell animation and painted backgrounds are fantastic, not surprising when you consider Don Bluth's involvement. Character models are consistent, movement is a fluid 24 frames per second and the overall craftsmanship is decidedly feature film worthy. The same can be said in regards to the movies CGI (computer generated images). Though not as good as the traditional animation, Titan A.E.s CG stands on its own very nicely and there is nothing cheap looking about it. So what happens when you combine these two beautiful forms of animation? You get crap. How can something like this happen you ask? It's simple, the traditional animation and CGI animation look drastically different. Separate from each other they work fine, once they occupy the same space however, the whole illusion necessary for animation to work is destroyed. This is a classic mistake made in other animated films such as Sinbad and Anastasia, it's also baffling. The use of CG in traditionally animated movies was not that new in 2000. Other movies like The Iron Giant (if you have not seen The Iron Giant stop reading and do so now!) and Tarzan were made prior to Titan A.E. and they figured out how to do it, so why couldn't Don Bluth and company do the same? Some scenes do work better than others, but on a whole the effect is simply too distracting. The final scene of Cale and Akima standing atop new Earth is exceptionally bad.

Production and character design is mostly good. I loved a lot of the space colony and space station design as well as the various alien designs. Korso, Preed, Stith and Gune all look good, as does the Valkyrie. Sadly Cale and Akima do have issues. Cale's haircut is exceedingly dated (even back in 2000 it was dated) and Akima's look, though nice, comes across as a little "hipster". Still these are small complaints and do little, if anything, to hurt the film.

Unfortunately the voice acting in Titan A.E. does hurt the film. I've always liked the saying "He has a face for radio", but wondered if the reverse could apply. Well thanks to Matt Damon I now know that the answer is a resounding yes. Matt Damon must have a face for live action entertainment because he certainly does NOT have a voice made for animation. Cale's voice (performed by Damon) is so flat and monotonous it actually becomes distracting during the course of the film. I know studios want to cast big name actors in these roles, but they should at least make sure the person can pull it off first. Drew Barrymore is better as Akima, but there are so many actresses that could have done a better job it’s just sad. On the plus side Nathan Lane (Preed), Janeane Garofalo (Stith) and John Leguizamo (Gune) all turn in good performances. Surprisingly the big standout of the group is Bill Pullman (Korso). I never would have expected such an unassuming actor to have such a distinct voice. His inflection and cadence gives much needed dimension to an otherwise formulaic character.

I don't have much to say about the music of Titan A.E. The movie uses a lot of "popular" songs from 2000, something that can be dangerous if done incorrectly. Luckily the choices were all good and actually complement the film. Still I worry that in another ten years or so the movies soundtrack will date it the same way that the Transformers movie soundtrack does (animated movie from 1986, not the crappy Michael Bay stuff).

Looking back at Titan A.E. I continue to wonder what could have been. If all the issues I've detailed were fixed would the movie be a classic? Probably not, but I do think the film had a real shot at respectability. As it is the movie still has enough positive qualities to warrant a viewing, if for no other reason than the fact we don't get a lot of epic space opera animation these days.