nomdesouris-1 To be fair, if this film had been released twenty years earlier, I'd be quite fond of it. But that's the point - it's nearly 30 years past its sell-by date. Wikipedia informs me that the comic book upon which it is based was published in 1986 - i.e. a few years after the iconic 'American Werewolf In London' movie, and 6 years before Joss Whedon's seminal'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'. As such, the characterisation, plot twists etc are very much of its time.Unfortunately, this movie was released in 2010. That means its audience is liable to be familiar with not just Buffy and AWIL but also more recent iterations of the comedy/horror/drama genre such as 'Blade', 'True Blood', 'Scream', 'The Vampire Diaries', 'Supernatural' etc etc. If you want to use a source text that's several decades out of date, in a genre that has thrived in the intervening time, then you need to bring your A Game as a writer, and demonstrate that you're aware of what's gone before, and that you've got something fresh to bring to the table.I cannot help thinking that this film was purely churned out because the rights holder, whoever they may be, realised that they'd got the rights to something involving vampires and was hoping to jump on the Twilight bandwagon. (Not that this has anything in common with Twilight beyond vampires, but for the life of me I can't imagine what possessed anyone to cough up the money to make this movie other than that faint hope of cashing in on the zeitgeist.) Alas, the comedy is leaden, the writing is witless, stilted and painfully out of date, and the entire premise (I'm trying to be cagey but this bit might be countered a trifle SPOILERY) is ultimately bogged down in tired misogynistic tropes.The one good think I can say about it is that Sam Huntingdon, in a supporting role, makes the most of the shoddy material he's given. That's always the sign of a good actor - when they can take duff writing and still make it enjoyable to watch. I felt really quite sorry for him, being stuck in such a lacklustre production, when he's evidently a pretty capable actor.If you stumble across this late at night on TV, you may find it cheesily enjoyable. If, on the other hand, you've paid cold hard cash for it in a movie theatre, you would be forgiven for feeling that you're due a refund.

Coventry Maybe – most likely, even – I'm just a fatigue and endlessly grumbling horror fanatic, but personally I'm so sick and tired of allegedly cool & overly energetic comic book adaptations that put all sort of traditional horror themes together through a modern CGI-blender. The outcome of such a mix is hardly ever entertaining or originative, but more like boisterous, pretentious and derivative. For a very short while, I was actually very enthusiast to see "Dylan Dog", as I read that it was based on the work of the Italian comic book artist Tiziano Sclavi. This also just happens to be the inventor of "Dellamorte Dellamore"; one of the top five greatest zombie movies ever made and still one of the most shamefully underrated horror movies in the history of cinema. But then I realized again that comic book adaptations hardly ever make good films, and in most cases they barely reflect even a glimpse of the coolness of the original comic book. Sclavi's eccentric universe offers a whole lot of potential and terrific gimmicks, like first and foremost the New Orleans setting and the rather peculiar story aspect of monsters harmoniously existing together, and director Kevin Munroe ("TMNT") also tries hard to make his film accessible to all kinds of cinematic audiences, but the whole thing is just too damn derivative and reminiscent to other (also inferior) franchises like "Underworld", "Constantine", "Van Helsing", "Watchmen" and who knows what else. Brandon Routh, the new but unsuccessful Superman, depicts a different type of heroic character this time, as he's a supernatural detective and the human guardian of the peace-pact between the New Orleans' opposite monster clans. He's actually retired, as there haven't been any incidents for a while now, but the pact is rudely broken when a rich antique dealer is savagely killed by a lycanthrope of patriarch Gabriel's clan. The murder generates a bloody war with at stake an ancient religious relic holding the power to awaken an invincible demon named Belial. Along the process, Dylan's loyal assistant and comic relief character Marcus reluctantly transforms into a zombie and loses his limbs, and our private eye falls in love with the victim's daughter who clearly has a hidden agenda since the start. It's truly incomprehensible how a movie featuring so many versatile horror themes and monsters eventually results in such a dull and painfully clichéd wholesome. "Dylan Dog" doesn't feature a single highlight or memorable sequence and, on top of it all, director Munroe often reverts to rookie mistakes like the redundant narration and an overuse of comedy interludes at the expense of story coherence and/or atmosphere. The special and make-up effects, albeit plentiful, are too obviously computer engineered and hugely disrespectful towards admirers of old-fashioned horror lovers. I watched this film at the Brussels' Festival of Fantastic Films, during a midnight screening and in a theater chock-full of outrageous and hyperactive genre fanatics. The crowd's reactions were lukewarm and harsh. I guess that says enough about a film whose desperate aim is to be a crowd-pleaser

Robert W. Dylan Dog might have been outstanding as a TV series...especially on a station like the CW because it had a distinct "Supernatural" "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" feel to it though it never reaches that level of entertainment but they do try and cram a lot into a small movie. The budget on this film was enormous compared to the final product. I can't believe they got a twenty million dollar budget. Everything was just done averagely. At the same time the film also felt like it was almost too ambitious packing in zombies, vampires, werewolves, murder mystery, comedy, action all at once. I know nothing of Dylan Dog and the comic books so I went into this blindly and simply for entertainment value. While it wasn't completely without charm it certainly misses the mark.I am a fan of Brandon Routh, first as Superman, which I enjoyed despite other opinions, and then on Chuck (which sadly ends tomorrow night for the record.) So I was eager to see him in another leading role. The role suits him for the most part and he does well. The Sam Spade type narration is kind of fun and he certainly pulls off the action scenes well enough but is bogged down by an overwrought script. Sam Huntington plays his sidekick who becomes a zombie. He is entirely meant for comic relief and the chemistry between him and Routh is good but unfortunately Huntington is overused for laughs and becomes the Jar Jar Binks of Dylan Dog. He is silly and never gets any real depth to his character. Anita Briem's character should have been a vital role to the story and she actually gets some really good scenes towards the end but up until then she is underused and underdeveloped like much of the film. Same could be said for Taye Diggs, who is an excellent actor, and really could have been something as the vampire villain but instead is used as almost fodder for Dylan Dog and gets very little good screen time. He's supposed to be the 'big bad' but is reduced to barely supporting character.I knew almost immediately while watching this that the director was probably very new to the big screen and sure enough Kevin Munroe has one other credit and its animated. He doesn't have the skill or experience to handle the content of this film. It should have a terrific supernatural action flick with a touch of comedy and instead it turns out to be a real mess with no clear direction or experience. As I said it is entertaining and has its moments and some of the special effects are great to look at but unfortunately its immature and poorly made for the most part. 6/10

FlashCallahan Superman returns after a string of cameos as a comic book detective who hunts and looks after various creatures of the night.Dog is the primary word here....Routh is quite a good actor, but with this nonsense, it's really hard to accept him other than ham, and the support is also bad too.Actors like Stormare, Diggs and even Huntingdon are wasted with the material and the cheese they lay over the film.Imagine a really camp Constantine mixed with Underworld and Sin City, and you've got this hash of a movie.The editing is poor and the narration is all about the place. I've never read the source material, but from what i've read, this doesn't touch it.There are a couple of good scenes, the mart for zombies, and the self help group is a good inclusion, but it doesn't deter the film from being what it is.A bad egg, from what could have been a camp, fun, movie.