Based on the latest hack and slash video game by the folks at Visceral Games, Dante's Inferno is a visually interesting animated film which nevertheless suffers from a repetitious plot line, despite the richness of its 700-year old source material.
Dante's Inferno Synopsis
Dante (voice of Graham McTavish) is a fierce and loyal soldier of the Crusades who is returning home after liberating Jerusalem in the name of Christianity. Looking forward to reuniting with his beloved Beatrice, the victorious warrior rushes through what he calls "gloomy woods", and has a suspicion that he is being followed.
When Dante finally arrives home, he is horrified to find his father lying dead inside the house, along with the servants. His wife-to-be, Beatrice (voice of Vanessa Branch), is in the backyard, bleeding to death, barely alive.
Before she has a chance to use her dying breath to alert Dante of who could possibly be responsible, the evil Lucifer, Lord of Hell (voice of Steve Blum) appears and takes a hold of Beatrice's soul, apparently satisfying a bargain she may have struck with the dark ruler in order to ensure Dante's safe return.
Refusing to accept that his beloved would spend an eternity in the pits of Hell, Dante sets out on a perilous journey to the netherworld. Given the dangers which come with traveling through the Nine Circles of Hell, Dante is please to encounter the ethereal spirit of the poet Virgil (voice of Peter Jessop), who willingly offers his services as a guide to the lowest levels of Lucifer's realm.
And so, armed with a demonic scythe and a fervent belief in his God, Dante journeys through realms of Limbo (populated with the souls of pagans and unbaptized newborns), Lust (filled with demonic harlots), Gluttony (home of Cerberus the three-headed dog monster), Greed (where Dante's late father has assumed a place in Lucifer's service), Anger (where he crosses the River Styx), Heresy (a refuse of souls who forced religion onto others through torture), Violence (where Dante learns about his late mother's true fate), Fraud (where Dante must stop the impending wedding between Lucifer and his beloved Beatrice) and finally, Treachery, the icy depth of Hell, and the lair of Lucifer himself.
Overall Analysis of Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic
There is certainly a lot of great ideas brought forth by the various studios who contributed to this 88-minute epic adventure, many of them lavishly animated with the ambition only hardcore fantasy artists could truly appreciate. With that in mind, most viewers might be turned off by the redundant plot, which has Dante beating each level's boss one after another, offering very little philosophy or thought behind each sequence.
It's hard to blame the creators in that regard; after all, this is a video game adaptation, faults and all. Despite this, the dialogue feels stilted and drags on way too often, as it tries to pay homage to Dante Alighieri's poem Inferno, the first book of The Divine Comedy written in the early 1300's.
The voice talents who contributed to this project are to be commended, for infusing what little life there is into the otherwise flat characters, some fans may recognize certain voices, namely that of Mark Hamill (yes, the Luke Skywalker actor) whose work as the Joker in the Batman animated series has made him a cartoon household name.
The real good stuff here is the animation work. Each Circle of Hell has its own atmosphere, detailed background and worthwhile villains. Should a lot of viewers run out and get the video game this film is based on if only to take a stab at the bosses themselves, no one will be surprised.
The Final Word on Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic
Though simplistic and oh-so repetitious, animation fans may still get a kick out of the animation sequences of this direct-to-video title. After all, the filmmakers did have an ambitious task in trying to adapt a classic poem, turning it into both a viable Playstation and/or Xbox game as well as an animated piece, one which does feel like a patched-up collection of interstitial segments, usually designed to give players with sore trigger fingers pause.
3 out of 5 for having worthwhile animated sequences, despite flat dialogue and a rushed trip through a classic work of literature.
Dominic Messier - Dominic Messier is a Toronto-based Film & TV writer, Sci-Fi TV and Film Dramas Topic Editor, and creator of PopCultureLandscape.com
