Dominator

Posted by Vicki on 12.10.03

While readily admitting that I don't know a great deal about manga it is broadly fair to say that Brit-manga is not a term that most people would associate with quality or good entertainment. Even less so if they had sat through the newly released DVD 'Dominator'. Hyped as "the new wave of Brit-manga animation" Dominator is adapted from a comic by Alan Grant and is entirely CGI animation.

Whilst I am not convinced about the value of CGI films I am aware that it can be put to good use for special effects. However when used badly CGI looks awful and can put you off watching the film, 'Scooby Doo' being a good example and regretfully 'Dominator' is little better.

To summerise the plot there is riot in Hell and Satan is overthrown by Lord Dementor who stole the key which controls all of Hell. Then his general Dominator (voiced by Dani Filth) steals the key and gets mistakenly transported to Earth by three big breasted anime sisters who play bad rock music to Motorhead posters. Dominator promptly "shags" two of the sisters and fights with an ex-girlfriend whose body one of the sisters then steals.

There is also some vague subplot about zombies and the British government being corrupt and sacrificing the homeless to evil demons, which is not really that imaginative given the current state of affairs. The producer appears to have more paid attention to the people voicing the characters than to what was actually happening on screen, with horror classics Ingrid Pitt and Doug Bradley bravely allowing their name to be plastered accross the cover - although bizzarly Radio 1 goons Mark and Lard have the highest billing.

Given the lack of plot or noteworthy animation it would have been nice to have a decent soundtrack, especially given Dani Filth's prominence in the magazine adverts for the film. AS it happens the soundtrack consists of Cradle of Filth, Synthetic, Digitalis, Jezebel and Sikth. With 3 bands (cradle, Synthetic and Jezebel) only being on the soundtrack due to their direct involvement in making the film.

The film is peppered with the word "frag" which I am assured is a move in the computer game Doom, as it happens it is also very annoying, although not quite as annoying as Dani Filth's put on accent and the high pitched squeals that emit from the female characters instead of words