Who remembers 2010? In the early months of that distant memory, gamers enjoyed God of War III and a couple of big God of War knock-offs. The most interesting of those knock-offs was EA's Dante's Inferno, a loose adaptation of The Divine Comedy that reimagines the strange tale as a hack-and-slash action game. It's largely been forgotten, but its animated adaptation was somehow more easily set aside.
Fans greet most video game movies with an overwhelming expectation of failure. Some abuse the term "video game curse" every time a new entry hits the screen. Though there are plenty of good adaptations of hit games, their terrible reputation ensures that every example must face an uphill battle. Tons of worthwhile material can get lost in the shuffle.
What is Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic About?
Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic is a fairly accurate adaptation of the 2010 game. The titular Dante is a Florentine Templar knight who left his beloved fiancé Beatrice to fight in the Crusades. While Dante is away, his servants, father, and bride are brutally murdered by an unseen assassin. Dante arrives just in time to see Lucifer pick up Beatrice's soul. Though Beatrice is pure and innocent, she's heading to Hell after an ill-conceived deal with the devil. Lucifer guaranteed Dante's safe return from the battlefield, but if he betrayed his oath of fidelity while he was away, Beatrice would be condemned to Hell. Dante proclaims his innocence and refuses his fate.
With the help of the great Roman poet Virgil, Dante will venture through the underworld to save Beatrice. It's a violent quest through Hell, battling vicious demons and damned souls at each new level. From Limbo to the lands of Lust and Gluttony, Dante is met by famous villains and figures of his past. Though he fights against his damnation, flashbacks and familiar faces reveal Dante's unforgivable sins. Dante must acknowledge the awful actions he took during the war and seek redemption. Gradually, Lucifer's dark plan becomes clear, and Beatrice is forced to reckon with her beloved partner's awful deeds. It's a story of sacrifice, vengeance, and the inherent draw of sin. Can Dante find forgiveness for his wife or himself? Only the handful of people who've seen Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic will find out.
Does Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic Stand Out Among Video Game Movies?
The game Dante's Inferno is celebrated for its art style and forgotten for everything else. The only aspect of the game that was applauded was the visual depiction of Hell. The game captured all nine circles with a fair amount of imagination. Minor details like floating platforms and wall textures are customized to fit the aesthetic, adding a bit of flair to an otherwise dull, generic experience. The film maintains that spirit with a truly baffling artistic choice. Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic is brought to life with the animation styling of six studios. Glance at two or three different screenshots of the film to see the wildly different depictions of the main characters. Dante has four entirely different body types and hairstyles in this one 90-minute film. This choice does not work, largely because it refuses to draw clean lines between the various art styles. It's one story rather than an anthology like The Animatrix or Halo: Legends, so consistently depicting the same handful of characters as completely different people is regularly jarring. A fan might watch this film without knowing about the six studios and constantly find themselves wondering why Dante suddenly dropped 200 pounds of muscle and gained two feet of flowing black hair.
Outside the weird animation, Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic sports plenty of decent action scenes and a ton of animated gore. It's not the kind of thing that one would usually see in an animated film. There's enough blood and nudity to satisfy the pickiest teenager, all rendered in vivid detail. The story isn't as impactful as it needs to be. It does a great job of selling Dante as a sinner. He's portrayed as a pious decent man at the beginning of the film and the slow reveal turns him into a villain. However, no amount of suffering or magic crosses will redeem the monster he became. This story was waiting for a much darker ending, and it's hard to justify its view of redemption.
Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic is better than a lot of video game adaptations. Fans of the game, animated horror, or the concept of Hell will find a lot to love in the film. There are definitely better films out there. It's most comparable to the Dead Space animated movies or Mortal Kombat: Scorpions Revenge. It's serviceable but forgettable. Its unique traits aren't always advantageous, and its generic elements are tough to ignore. Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic will be a trip through heaven for the nine or ten fans of Dante's Inferno left out there, but it's only a mild blessing for everyone else.