What The Hell Is This? — ‘Devil May Cry’ Reviewed

Devil May Cry has been my most highly anticipated animated video game adaptation. Given the success of Castlevania, I had high hopes for the show. The video game premise is simple; Dante and his brother Virgil are the half-demon sons of Sparda, a demonic knight who fought against the king of demons. Dante now uses his superhuman abilities to hunt demons.

This very simple and appealing premise is overcomplicated in the DMC show by the introduction of new characters as part of a secret agency called Dark Realm Command. To make matters worse, these new additions eat up too much screen time. It’s as if we were watching a Superman movie from the perspective of a Men in Black organization, and the big twist is that we discover Clark Kent is actually from Krypton (gasp)!

I was honestly really happy with the characterization of both Dante and Lady. Dante strikes the perfect balance between being cool and acting cheeky. Lady’s new outfit comes with slick upgraded weapons and she had some of the most badass moments in the show. It’s frustrating, because Dante and Lady are the best characters in the series– but the show isn’t about them.

The biggest problem with Devil May Cry is that the whole story revolves around Dark Realm Command which is a painfully uninteresting mash-up of the X-Men and GI Joe. This jingoistic military angle feels really out of place when DMC is known for being Gothic and supernatural. Is it too much to ask that Dante and Lady team up and hunt demons just like they do in the games?

Episodes oscillate from clunky dumps of exposition to fast-paced action that are devoid of physical or emotional stakes. Several of the show’s set-pieces feel lifted from other action movies. One sequence is clearly the highway chase from The Matrix: Reloaded and another episode is derivative of The Raid: Redemption— complete with a scene where Lady hides in one of the tenants apartments.

Devil May Cry the animated series is a mixed bag of too many ideas that don’t mesh well together. There are cringeworthy music choices, jarringly bad CGI demons, and a cameo from a Bayonetta side character that only adds to the discord.  Virgil is teased in the trailer but won’t make a full appearance until Season 2. Iconic characters from the games are sidelined to make way for disposable show-original side characters.

It’s been eight years since Castlevania started streaming on Netflix. Since then, we’ve had many successful video game adaptations and adult animated shows. Sadly, in Devil May Cry it feels like we’re taking a big step backwards.