Dante's Inferno [Blu-ray]

DANTE'S INFERNO: An Animated Epic

Release date: February 9, 2010
Studio: Anchor Bay/Starz Media
Not Rated, but intended for Mature Viewers
Running Time: 88 minutes
Aspect: 1:78:1
MSRP: $34.95

THE FILM

Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic is a companion piece to EA Games videogame of the same, also to be released on February 9. This is a quest tale. Our hero, Dante, descends through the 9 Circles of Hell as described in Dante Aligheri's classic poem, The Divine Comedy. He is fighting his way through Hell's minions to reach Lucifer himself and rescue the captured soul of his beloved, Beatrice, before she is forced to become the bride of the Fallen One. The battles are bloody, the sexual encounters are of an 'R-rated' nature, with the exception of Dante's battle in the circle of Lust. There, he encounters Hell's Harlots who shoot some undefined weaponry out of their vaginas (which are animated in detail)!! The story resolution is open-ended. Clearly EA has plans for one or more sequels to the game and, consequently, the movie.

This is not the first video game to have a direct-to-video film help promote it (see Dead Space). However, this video appears to be an analog of the upcoming game. The story is advanced by very brief flashbacks to the bad, bad things Dante did while fighting in the Holy Land during the Crusades. The flashback ends and Dante battles a bunch of low level monsters to get to the boss of the level. He moves on to the next Circle of Hell, has a flashback--occasionally interrupted by a scene of Lucifer torturing Beatrice--and fights the bad guys. It plays like a successful run through the game. Pretty ho-hum stuff. The video is animated by six different directors, which results in a sometimes jarring change of styles in between Circles of Hell. The color palette employed stays in the grays, blacks, and blues with generous splashes of blood red throughout. Beatrice is drawn in vivid whites and golds that draw one's eye to her whenever she is on screen. Voice work is provided by Mark Hamill, Graham McTavish, Victoria Tennant, and Vanessa Branch. All do fine work.

RATING: 2.5/5

VIDEO

The film is framed at 1:78:1 and presented in 1080p. The colors are distinctive despite the dark palette. The image is artifact-free and crisp. Film Roman produced the animation and it is up to the standards they have established with their past work, most notably The Simpsons. Action sequences flow nicely (a good ting as Dante's Inferno is nothing without its swordplay) and there is a realistic feel to movement of both human and demon characters. I especially liked the sense of life in the characters' eyes.

RATING: 4/5

AUDIO

The audio track is presented in 5.1 Dolby TrueHD. The track is front-stage heavy, with a decent amount of surround effects. LFE is very light. I really cranked up my Onkyo 807 and my sub barely yawned. Dialogue is clear and never obscure by music or sound effects.

Rating: 3/5

EXTRAS

These consist of a handful of pencil-drawn animatics that will appeal to the hardest of hard-core fans and a trailer for the videogame.

RATING: 1/5

IN SUMMARY

Let's not kid ourselves: Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic would not exist if EA did not have a game to bring to market. My overall reaction comes from Lisa Simpson: meh. M-E-H. The story is nicely animated, but--based on the game trailer--merely tracks the upcoming game instead of providing background depth that might have come from a prequel story. I imagine the only audience for this video will be the gamers who are anticipating the release of the videogame. I cannot recommend this video at $20 or $25 retail. It would more appropriately be distributed as a bonus disc packaged with the game.

OVERALL RATING (NOT AN AVERAGE): 2/5