Dylan Dog - Il film

Poor Brandon Routh. After snagging the iconic role as the Man of Steel, it's a little bit unfortunate that Bryan Singer's Superman Returns fell short of the studio's expectations, and he no longer plays a part in any future installments, starting with Zack Snyder's reboot. No matter, after all with that build and chiselled good looks, one can waltz into another superhero franchise, isn't it?

Unfortunately, Dylan Dog is an Americanized version of the Italian horror graphic novel character, and as far as adaptations of comics from another culture goes, this one hits the mark in expectations, where the source material got extremely dumbed down, its unique selling points dissolved into mediocrity and bastardized. Save for the trademarked coat and red shirt, director Kevin Munroe's vision of this character became somewhat of a generic monster hunter type of film, though a plus point would be its treatment and narrative style in full detective noir, with Routh's Dylan Dog being reluctantly pulled from retirement by his client Elizabeth (Anita Briem) to investigate the death of her father, as well as that of his assistant Marcus (Sam Huntington).

This investigative trip of course introduces the audience unfamiliar with the Dylan Dog mythos that the undead, from vampires to werewolves to zombies, all have hidden human identities and walk the Earth quite undetected, with a truce in place to keep the peace and Dylan being the only trusted human for the monsters to go to when someone crosses the line or breaks the peace. There's a little backstory here on Dylan's origins and the reasons behind his forced retirement, but nothing truly to wow or build upon any depth to the character, which is potential that's wasted in giving Dylan more meat in background, becoming instead just another human detective on his rounds.

The thrill factor of course is the make up and effects in having the monsters look their nasty part, although they aren't something that hasn't been seen before on screen. Action sequences are ho-hum, with the nagging feeling that the story by Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer can't quite decide how to empower Dylan, making him become as powerful as Routh's previous comic book outing in at least the indestructibility factor, while equipped with some funky weapons that we should see more of. And the trailer while pretty tacky, actually summed up the entire plot, having reveal too much and letting out that the filmmakers aren't quite confident with their end product, and the marketers a little bit clueless on how to sell this film, hence its verbosity.

While Brandon Routh has a limited acting range, his physique actually suited him fine here and basically that was all that mattered, since you aren't going to remember much about his rather bland performance. Perhaps it's also because Sam Huntington, his co-star from Superman Returns as well as he played Jimmy Olsen then, scored much of the flak in this film being the very whiny assistant, whose wisecracks and constant shouting get onto your nerves, and you wonder when his character could shut up if at all for five minutes. The Marcus character doesn't exist in the books simply because of a potential copyright tussle if what was deemed as a Grucho Marx lookalike got interpreted, but this modern replacement was as unfunny as he was unnecessary in a lot of ways.

Don't expect this monster squad outing to be too cerebral. It's filled with corny one liners involving various body parts, and in essence is a poor man's cousin to Men in Black, replacing aliens in our midst with that of monsters roaming around. If only it had stuck more faithfully to its source, then it could have been something quite unique.

Okay, so the movie isn't set in London. So there is no Inspector Bloch, Dr. Xabaras, or Groucho Marx. So the zombies are more Shaun of the Dead than Dawn of the Dead. It's still a good movie.

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night stars Brandon Routh (Superman Returns, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) as the eponymous "nightmare investigator", with Sam Huntington (Being Human) as his undead sidekick, Marcus. When the movie begins, Dylan has retired from keeping tabs on the paranormal beings that walk among us (and they walk all among us), and has settled into a more conventional private detective gig. One day, though, a potential client named Elizabeth (Anita Briem, Journey to the Center of the Earth) tries to hire Dylan to solve the death of her father. He refuses, until he returns to his office that night to discover Marcus has also been killed. The two slayings are just the beginning, as Dylan, his now zombified assistant, and Elizabeth crisscross New Orleans in search of the monsters responsible.

Now, readers of the Italian comic books on which the film is based have blasted the movie for its "unfaithfulness" to the original works by Tiziano Sclavi. While it would have been nice to see Brandon Routh playing the clarinet once or twice, the realities of movie-making must intrude at some point. A low budget, for example, means not being able to film in London, where the comics are set. The American city of New Orleans probably comes closest in old school creepiness, though (apologies to the people of New Orleans; and of London, I guess). The same goes for Groucho Marx, the black-and-white era comedian on whom the comics' Dylan's assistant is based and whose likeness is very expensive to use in the States. While they show pictures of people in Groucho glasses and posters for Marx Brothers movies, the cost for securing the rights to have an imitator was likely quite high. Even the American adaptation of the comics had to "shave" Groucho's mustache and change his name to Felix for similar reasons. Sam Huntington more than fills the role of "comedy sidekick", though, as he struggles to adjust to the fact that he's dead; and he and Routh have excellent chemistry due to their time working together on Superman Returns.

Anita Briem's character seems like a bit of a misfire at times, but she certainly follows the path of most female characters in the comics. Often, Dylan Dog finds himself taking the case of an attractive young woman who has lost a loved one (or several) and needs his help coming to grips with the supernatural world into which she's been thrust. And while the supernatural world of the movie differs noticeably from that of the comics, the atmosphere it presents is almost instantly recognizable. The walk they take through the streets at night as Dylan tries to open her eyes to the presence of the undead as they literally pass in front of her eyes would not have seemed out of place on Sclavi's pages, I feel. Sure, the monsters themselves are different, but again, you've gotta give American moviegoers a bone every now and then, show them something they'll recognize, as well.

And then there's Dylan himself. Brandon Routh is a fine actor; I don't think anyone can deny that. He works very well with what he's given, and in this case, he did an excellent job as Dylan Dog. The movie character shared much in common with the comics character: mistrust of technology (the comics Dylan refuses to use a cell phone, the movie Dylan still uses cameras with film in them); a deep, brooding disinterest in the world at large; drives the same VW Bug, even though the colors have been inverted; and, though some may disagree, he even looks a lot like the Dylan from the comics. Dylan is an old school private investigator, whether he's investigating the living, the dead, or the undead. In the movies, though, he's given an additional role: keeping the creatures of the supernatural world from getting out of line. A pact was formed, presumably to protect the "monsters" from being wiped out entirely by humanity, and as part of that pact, a human was chosen to sort of police the undead; to keep them in check, so to speak. In our day, that's Dylan; or, at least it was until he "retired".

That last part is probably the biggest difference between the comic books and the movie. It turns the character from a sort of Philip Marlowe of the undead world into another version of Keanu Reeve's John Constantine, another movie character who wasn't that closely based on his graphic novel counterpart; and it is probably the part of the movie about which fans of the Dylan Dog comics will be the least forgiving. I'm enough of a purist myself to agree that the movie should have done more to adhere to the source material. That being said, I liked the movie a lot. I think they did a fine job with not that much in the way of resources, and they created a very believable "underground" world that could very well coexist with our own. Brandon Routh has always been a favorite actor of mine, and even if this is the latest in a string of underrated movies in which he starred, he and Sam Huntington did a great job in it.

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night

On TV, the key to good paranormal detection is to blow arbitrary sounds completely out of proportion, whilst bathed in the murky glow of night-vision.

Thankfully, the supernatural dick in this horror movie leaves the scare tactics up to the monsters.

A retired mediator for the creatures of the night that populate New Orleans in disguise, private eye Dylan Dog (Brandon Routh) finds himself pulled back in to the shadows when a powerful vampire (Taye Diggs) threatens to reawaken an evil entity that will enslave humanity.

In addition to saving the world, and quelling a pending vampire war with the werewolves, Dylan must also prepare his recently bitten partner Marcus (Sam Huntington) for life as a zombie.

Based on the Italian comic book, Dylan Dog is a poorly acted, sadly crafted, schizophrenic hodge-podge of screwball comedy and low-rent horror.

Besides, all the dames that hire paranormal detectives have piranha-toothed vaginas. (Red Light)

Brandon who? The name's Brandon Routh, the former fashion model who was supposed to save the Superman series by playing the caped superhero in 2006. Alas, despite positive reviews for the Bryan Singer directed movie, the planned sequel for Superman Returns never materialized. What happened to the chiseled good looker? He went on to play supporting roles in several TV series (he had a 12 episode stint on Chuck) and movies (2008's Zack and Miri Make a Porno being the most memorable), before landing himself on this project, which, according to the movie poster, is based on "one of the world's most popular comics".

Err, doesn't that accolade belong to the gang from Marvel?

Jokes aside, Routh plays the titular Dylan Dog, a supernatural private eye who seeks out monsters to bring peace to New Orleans. With a zombie as his assistant, the ace detective must come face to face with vampires and werewolves so that the world can be safe once more.

Research tells us that the horror comic series this movie is based on originated in Italy, where a good one million copies are sold each month since its publication in 1986. The filmmakers have taken liberty to shift the setting of the movie from London to New Orleans, and replacing the sidekick character with an undead assistant due to copyright issues. So here, we have Routh donning the comic character's signature red shirt, black jacket and blue jeans to hunt those monsters down.

Truth be told, the dashing star does look good in the movie with his 1.9 meter frame. The Iowa born actor has the quality of a leading man (check out those sculpted facial features and broad shoulders), but charisma alone is apparently not good enough to make Routh a credible actor. There is a lack in his character portrayal, and it is rather unfortunate that his acting was as dead as the creatures he has to battle. The tiresome voiceovers do not help to sustain our interest in the character either.

Laughs come in the form of Sam Huntington (he played Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen in 2006's Superman Returns, which explains his pairing with Routh in this movie), who plays the under-appreciated friend who becomes a zombie. The endearing actor gets some of the best moments in the movie, including one which has him going to a zombie support group so that he can come to terms with his newfound status as an undead. His presence in the otherwise dreary movie provides the much needed perks.

Regrettably, Huntington alone isn't enough to save the 108 minute production from being predictably lackluster. His co stars include Anita Briem (Journey to the Center of the Earth) who tries her best to take on the role of an attractive client, Peter Stormare (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) who tries his best to look threatening as a werewolf and Taye Diggs (Chicago) who tries his best to send shivers down our spines as a vampire. Maybe it's the B grade movie feel of the production, or maybe it's just the unsurprising plot developments, but we just cannot find ourselves being impressed by the ensemble cast.

Special effects aren't too shoddy in this Kevin Munroe (his other feature film credit is the disappointing TMNT) directed movie, but we can't help but feel that this is one movie best played on late night television.

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l am a big fan of Dylan Dog comics and this is one of worst adaptation of comics ever.It seems like people who made this movie never read any DD comic, they just got a screenplay and decide to make a horror comedy or something like that. Is it really that hard to investigate, to read, to feel the atmosphere of movie. l guess it is for those moneymakers. l don't know what to think about people who are willing to spit on masterpiece as Dylan Dogs comics are. Whole generation of kids in my country grow reading DD and Alan Ford, Marvel's comics as so many people around a world and You dare to make something stupid and disappointing as this "blockbusterd" is. Shame on You guys