A poorly written but amply budgeted "animated epic" (read: beat 'em up through hell) watchable for the animation alone, and otherwise deeply flawed.
"Dante's is a visual imagination ... he lived in an age in which men still saw visions" - T.S. Eliot
Dante's poetry is an opportunity for EA's wealth to be well spent: 8 studios from America, South Korea and Japan created a blend of Western and Asian animation that is at times stunning but inconsistent and abrupt changes, particularly in Dante's features, become irritating, wavering from childlike to action soldier in character. There are, however, flaming boobs.
It is as coherent as a collection of game cutscenes cobbled together, moving so fast no time is left for thought. The plot is laughable, progressing no further than the original Mario game. Indeed, the very basis for the whole movie, for Dante's quest to retrieve Beatrice, is contradictory and unexplained; we learn at the beginning that she, a pure maiden, has made a deal with the devil for no reason and as it progresses things become no clearer. Such weak writing might have been acceptable in the early stages of the video game industry, but is now embarrassingly dated and can not survive a transportation to film.
The low point is the dialogue, giving the impression that we are hearing randomly generated NPC sequences. After a short while the irritation of Dante wailing "Beatrice" in varying anguished tones caused me to count the further occurrences: approximately 40 times over a brief 88 minutes. When he makes the effort to form full sentences, archaic and modern language is mixed haphazardly. Sadly, this is the closest we get to humour; the video game voice actors never make much of an effort to sound like they care and earn no laughs. Generally, the dialogue works against the action, often stating exactly what is happening, leaving the impression the writer has a low regard for the intelligence of his viewers.
And indeed, Dante himself is remarkably stupid. A child in the body of a blood crazed warrior, dependent upon Vergil for help, yet often disregarding him by charging into many paradoxical fightscenes that are as boring as they are over quickly. Aside from the obvious ridiculousness of such antics, the plot sits terribly on Dante's poem: the frustration and unending torment of hell is replaced by speedy satisfaction and effortless success.
Anyway, it bares almost no resemblance to Dante's poem, considered the founding work of the Italian language. And does a similar injustice to history: Dante lived a century apart from Saladin and the crusades which play a crucial part in the thin plot. Not to mention the personal insults to Dante and his family; the portrayal of his father alone is enough to cause offence.
Instead, passing by the opportunity to study the failure of revenge and possibility of redemption, it ends up preaching success through extreme and often sexual violence with easy absolution.
At best the movie is a parody of itself, the creators have no respect for the poem and fail to give the impression that it is anything other than an advertising stunt while succeeding in being both pretentious and childish: it manages to drop a large number of names (Latinus, Plato, Socrates, Augustus, Charon, Hector, Electra, Julius Caesar, Aristotle, Saladin, Richard the Lionheart, Minos, Daedalus, Ulysses, Alexander the Great, Lancelot, Attila the Hun, Semiramis, Ninus, Mark Anthony, Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Paris, King Richard (probably referring to Richard the Lionheart again), Cerberus, Phlegius, Ares, Filippo Argenti, Farinata degli Uberti, Salome, Helen of Troy, the Minotaur, Judas Iscariot, Valerius Antias, Geryon, Nimrod, Dionysius, Nessus, Duchy of Athens... ) and of course Hitler is given a cameo.
Although its basis on the video game of the same name likely accounts for many deficiencies, there's no excuse to add yet another mediocre adaption. The film is part of a wider attempt at causing offence for publicity (as seen, for example, in recent faked protests), but America is no longer a country where any serious reaction can be expected from such clichés as oversize holstered crosses.
Ultimately the film was created to cash in on Dante's Inferno. Was it necessary to trash him, his work and family in the process? Someone looking for better animation and a similarly simplistic plot without the terrible dialogue has many alternatives, e.g. Afro Samurai.
To give Satan the last word: "I grow weary of this game."
"Dante's is a visual imagination ... he lived in an age in which men still saw visions" - T.S. Eliot
Dante's poetry is an opportunity for EA's wealth to be well spent: 8 studios from America, South Korea and Japan created a blend of Western and Asian animation that is at times stunning but inconsistent and abrupt changes, particularly in Dante's features, become irritating, wavering from childlike to action soldier in character. There are, however, flaming boobs.
It is as coherent as a collection of game cutscenes cobbled together, moving so fast no time is left for thought. The plot is laughable, progressing no further than the original Mario game. Indeed, the very basis for the whole movie, for Dante's quest to retrieve Beatrice, is contradictory and unexplained; we learn at the beginning that she, a pure maiden, has made a deal with the devil for no reason and as it progresses things become no clearer. Such weak writing might have been acceptable in the early stages of the video game industry, but is now embarrassingly dated and can not survive a transportation to film.
The low point is the dialogue, giving the impression that we are hearing randomly generated NPC sequences. After a short while the irritation of Dante wailing "Beatrice" in varying anguished tones caused me to count the further occurrences: approximately 40 times over a brief 88 minutes. When he makes the effort to form full sentences, archaic and modern language is mixed haphazardly. Sadly, this is the closest we get to humour; the video game voice actors never make much of an effort to sound like they care and earn no laughs. Generally, the dialogue works against the action, often stating exactly what is happening, leaving the impression the writer has a low regard for the intelligence of his viewers.
And indeed, Dante himself is remarkably stupid. A child in the body of a blood crazed warrior, dependent upon Vergil for help, yet often disregarding him by charging into many paradoxical fightscenes that are as boring as they are over quickly. Aside from the obvious ridiculousness of such antics, the plot sits terribly on Dante's poem: the frustration and unending torment of hell is replaced by speedy satisfaction and effortless success.
Anyway, it bares almost no resemblance to Dante's poem, considered the founding work of the Italian language. And does a similar injustice to history: Dante lived a century apart from Saladin and the crusades which play a crucial part in the thin plot. Not to mention the personal insults to Dante and his family; the portrayal of his father alone is enough to cause offence.
Instead, passing by the opportunity to study the failure of revenge and possibility of redemption, it ends up preaching success through extreme and often sexual violence with easy absolution.
At best the movie is a parody of itself, the creators have no respect for the poem and fail to give the impression that it is anything other than an advertising stunt while succeeding in being both pretentious and childish: it manages to drop a large number of names (Latinus, Plato, Socrates, Augustus, Charon, Hector, Electra, Julius Caesar, Aristotle, Saladin, Richard the Lionheart, Minos, Daedalus, Ulysses, Alexander the Great, Lancelot, Attila the Hun, Semiramis, Ninus, Mark Anthony, Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Paris, King Richard (probably referring to Richard the Lionheart again), Cerberus, Phlegius, Ares, Filippo Argenti, Farinata degli Uberti, Salome, Helen of Troy, the Minotaur, Judas Iscariot, Valerius Antias, Geryon, Nimrod, Dionysius, Nessus, Duchy of Athens... ) and of course Hitler is given a cameo.
Although its basis on the video game of the same name likely accounts for many deficiencies, there's no excuse to add yet another mediocre adaption. The film is part of a wider attempt at causing offence for publicity (as seen, for example, in recent faked protests), but America is no longer a country where any serious reaction can be expected from such clichés as oversize holstered crosses.
Ultimately the film was created to cash in on Dante's Inferno. Was it necessary to trash him, his work and family in the process? Someone looking for better animation and a similarly simplistic plot without the terrible dialogue has many alternatives, e.g. Afro Samurai.
To give Satan the last word: "I grow weary of this game."