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.
