|
|
Hellboy Animated: Sword of the Storms is the missing half of the live-action Hellboy movie. Whereas the live-action movie lacked in storyline quality (Hellhound of Regeneration? Really? How did the Catholics ever stop it in the first place?) , this movie feels much more fluid and Hellboy-ish.
After an awesome opening sequence involving flaming Mayan zombies and a HUGE bat, the plot largely shifts to the Eastern Hemisphere. A professor of Japanese mythology is possessed by the demons of thunder and lightning after reading an ancient scroll, but, to come fully into our world, they need to break the sword that slew them long ago. Hellboy, drawn to that very sword, is thrust by it into a pseudo-Japanese world circa-some time ago when Japan was ruled by samurai and a spider-demon-woman that play the lute. Meanwhile, the possessed professor, unable to get to Hellboy and the sword, casts demons into that pseudo world by casting chess-like pieces onto a scroll. These demons include said spider-woman, a zombie resurrecting priest, and the most entertaining group: demons that tell funny stories (oooh, and their heads come off):
Funny Japanese Guy That's Really a Demon: "There once was a man who got a magical box from a mysterious woman. The man was told to never open it, so he hid it, but his wife found it while he was in the field...and when she opened it, do you know what she found? It was full of human eyeballs! And the man dropped dead in the field!"
Hellboy: "Yeah...that was a great story..."
While moving Hellboy fights his way past these obstacles, his coworkers Abe Sapien (the lovable merman) and Liz Sherman (resident pyrotechnic) attempt to prevent the awakening of ancient dragons buried beneath the earth. The dragons are slowly awakening in anticipation of the arrival of the demons of thunder and lightning.
If you like Hellboy (in any form), anime, sly wit, or goodness in general, you might consider picking this up. The ending is a bit disappointing, capped by a mostly predictable fight scene, but doesn't detract from the movie as a whole.
Hellboy Animated: Sword of the Storms -> 7/10 (Would be a 7.5, but MvMMDI forces me to round up and it's not quite an 8.)
|
This review hasn't been rated yet.
|
|
|
