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
