Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic is not so much an epic as it is a somewhat more than moderately entertaining diversion. As you front up and start knocking on the crusty gates of hell it should be noted that you are not about to embark on a guided tour through Dante Alighieri's celebrated mega poem, The Divine Comedy. No this time out we are in decidedly more convoluted territory. Dante's Inferno is an animated feature length sister to the EA (Electronic Arts) third-person video game of the same name. The game in turn is a loose adaptation of Alighieri's epic travelogue into the smoldering depths of hell; as it turns out an interesting place to visit but you wouldn’t want to live there. This 2010 animation becomes even more of a Frankenstein-esque monster as it struggles to gel whilst being stitched together within four different studios under the direction of six different animation directors.
Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic – Overview
So, all illusions of adherence to the original source material to one side, this pastiche of animation styles is a wildly fluctuating ride. Dante (Graham McTavish) is again the narrator and the storyboards driving force as he plunges downward into the darkness in search of his beloved fiancée Beatrice (Vanessa Branch). Here he is now reimagined as a battle worn knight, returned from the crusades and laden with guilts unknown.
Now deep inside the earth’s womb he rails against the dwarfing gates of hell. Taunted by Lucifer (Steve Blum) himself and guided by the specter of classical Rome’s most famous of poets, Virgil (Peter Jessop), Dante summons his inner WMD. Ever onward and downward through each of the spiraling rings of hell he now gallantly thrashes infused with holy armor. Each level represents and adorns itself as a manifestation of human failing. From Limbo through Lust on into Gluttony and deep into Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence and Fraud Dante tumbles. He traverses the putrid rivers of the condemned, the lost and the forgotten all the while confronting not only its demons but also his own. This surely is a magnificent tale and one obviously ideally suited to the many facets of horror cinema.
Differing Layers of Animation Styles
But although Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic touches all the bases and even strives to elevate itself above the trappings of youth targeted animation is still never comes close to fulfilling its epic aspirations. The fact that each of the realms of hell is animated and directed by a different person and studio both adds and subtracts from the final effect. It is an interesting ploy to see Dante’s appearance and style alter with each successive plunge but it is also one that disorientates. Certain of the segments are superior to others and this only serves to stagger the storytelling and disconnect its viewer from Dante's slow build-up to his final shattering realization.
Images of violence, sex and gore scatter throughout Dante's Inferno. It is all very stylized and again succeeds or fails at the hands of its respective director. This is in fact probably a hard story to completely mess up with enough fiery pit damned ghouls, minotaurs and various other demonic manifestations to keep even the weakest of segments pretty much on track. With an obsessive love story at its very heart Dante's Inferno does, regardless of its failings, draw its viewer into the cauldron that bubbles away as it tears the flesh from our heroes very soul. It is only within its final moments that the gaping spectrum of emotions and evils that have been surmounted implode into a tiny spot. A hallowed place in purgatory where Dante discards all in the name of his beloved. A truly epic romance and morality riven tale that vastly exceeds such a puny canvas. Ultimately an entertaining and at times visually innovative production that is nonetheless almost criminally forgettable. 2.5/5
The Circles of Hell
- Entry into Hell (Directed by Victor Cook, pre-production by Film Roman & animated by Digital Emation)
- Limbo (Directed by Shukou Murase, produced by Manglobe)
- Lust (Directed by Shukou Murase, produced by Manglobe).
- Gluttony (Directed by Jong-Sik Nam, produced by Dong Woo Animation)
- Greed (Directed by Jong-Sik Nam, produced by Dong Woo Animation)
- Anger and The City of Dis (Directed by Lee Seung-Gyu, produced by JM Animation)
- Heresy (Directed by Lee Seung-Gyu, produced by JM Animation)
- Violence (Directed by Sang-Jin Kim, produced by JM Animation)
- Fraud (Directed by Sang-Jin Kim, produced by JM Animation)
- Treachery (Directed by Yasuomi Umetsu, produced by Production I.G.)
Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic
- Directors:
Victor Cook (My Blueberry Nights - Scenic Artist)
Mike Disa (Tinker Bell - Storyboard Artist)
Sang-Jin Kim (Ghost House - Director)
Shuko Murase (Ergo Proxy – Director)
Jong-Sik Nam (Batman: Gotham Knight - Animation Director)
Lee Seung-Gyu (Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic)
- Starring (Voices): Graham McTavish, Vanessa Branch, Steve Blum, Peter Jessop, Mark Hamill, Victoria Tennant,
- DVD Release: February 9, 2010
- Rated R: For strong bloody violence throughout, nudity and some sexual content.
- 88 minutes
Hari Navarro - Hari Navarro is Topic Editor for Suite 101's Horror Film section and Editor/ Writer at online horror review site, The Hell Street ...
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