Dylan Dog: Dead of Night

The present rating the move has (5.1) while absolutely understandable, is completely undeserved. I have never ever read a Dylan Dog comic. In fact, I did not even know it was a comic series till a search query told me so.

I watched the movie without any expectations and it was enjoyable. Like most movies of this genre, it was predictable in most places, but that does not take anything away from the movie.

It was a nice blend of comedy and horror. In fact, it is more of comedy and very little horror.

For an easy evening watch (like what I needed) this movie is perfect.

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.

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

The most aggravating movies, in my opinion, are the ones where the premise sounds like something that could make for a really awesome movie but the actual product falls completely flat. Dylan DOG is not a horrible movie, it's just another movie that might entertain a bit while you watch it...might elicit a chuckle at times...but overall is completely forgettable. It's based off an Italian graphic novel that I'd honestly never heard of, but might be interested in checking out to see if it's better than the movie. Dylan Dog is a private investigator in New Orleans who finds himself confronted by a part of his past that he thought he'd left behind. Before Dog began catering to the city's sleazy human population, he was an investigator for the paranormal citizens of the city: vampires, werewolves, and zombies all living quietly alongside us. When a werewolf appears to have murdered a human, Dog is drawn back in to his old life to investigate and uncovers a plot to unleash an ancient evil that could wreak havoc on the supernatural underworld before ultimately spilling over onto humanity.

I've seen this movie twice now and I can barely remember anything about it. That's not a good sign. I really thought this movie had the potential to be cool, but it feels more like a SyFy original movie. The story wanders and never builds tension. It just sort of meanders from one plot point to another, lazily following the trail of clues until the final confrontation. And the special effects...wow. I realize this film was a lower budget than usual (compared to your average Hollywood effects-heavy film) at $20 million, but come on. I've seen some pretty amazing films created out of budgets this size. DISTRICT 9 was only $30 million and that movie blew my mind with awesomeness. Dylan DOG's got a decent independent budget and the creature effects in this film feel twenty years old! For example, the "tattooed zombie", a major element of the film that couldn't be bothered with an actual identifying name, looks ridiculous. It's mouth barely moves and it's only means of intimidation is waving it's arms around like a weekly villain from the old "Power Rangers" TV show. I love practical special effects and I prefer some real well done practical creature effects over CGI anytime. But if you can't make a creature look like anything more than a bodybuilder in a bad Halloween mask, perhaps you should consider another option.

Dylan DOG is director Kevin Munroe's second film and, seeing as how his first film was the animated TMNT, I really don't know what I should've expected. TMNT was decent, but I suppose it's not hard to look better when the preceding film in the Ninja Turtle series had men in rubber turtle costumes riding horses. I have to wonder if the effects in this film were so poor, where did the budget go? It couldn't have been the cast. The movie is filled with "Hey, I know that guy from somewhere" level actors. Brandon Routh feels as if he should be A-list by now, but his project selections aren't letting him get far. He showed us he could do comedy with some great jobs in ZACK AND MIRI and SCOTT PILGRIM, but he feels flat here. A couple of one-liners, but mostly emotionless. Sam Huntington is the best part of the film as Dog's newly zombified sidekick Marcus. He gets the best parts of the film and I think the filmmakers realized this because he gets more screen-time than his character probably should. Peter Stormare, the actor with the most clout in the film, is wasted as the head of a werewolf clan and Taye Diggs doesn't feel like he's taking this thing seriously.

If I'd known ahead of time the film had given a part to pro wrestler Kurt Angle, at least I would've known what I was walking into. No offense, wrestling fans, but wrestlers suck as actors 99% of the time and Angle is no exception here (made more laugh-worthy when they strap on the lamest werewolf makeup in the last few decades). Dylan DOG feels like a movie where no one was really trying. I'm sure it was just a paycheck to some of those involved, but this has got to annoy fans of the actual graphic novel who might've been excited to see their beloved property brought to film. Dylan DOG is yet another comic property where we just need to hope that, somewhere down the line, a studio decides to reboot the series and...I don't know...try to make an entertaining film.