Devil May Cry (2025)

Obviously the series will be of interest to anyone familiar with the playable characters. But we feel like this Devil will work just as well for those who’ve never played the video game on which it’s based.

“Devil May Cry” effectively translates the game’s kinetic pacing with a short story that takes place over 48 hours or less for its eight-episode first season. It’s a frenzied, adrenaline rush as swift as the swords Dante wields in both pacing and style, best to digest in one easy binge.

Devil May Cry is not without flaws, including horrendous use of CG, bad jokes, and predictable characters. And yet, Adi Shankar and Studio Mir craft a fun video-game adaptation that doubles as a deranged, bonkers, and bold homage to and indictment of '00s Americana.

Showrunner Adi Shankar (“Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix”) takes time and care with the multi-layered world building while pumping it all up with adrenaline, heavy-metal-esque action sequences. They razzle dazzle.

It's undeniably an acquired taste, and as someone who previously wasn't familiar with the game series, I completely understand why anybody would bail after a single half hour in the presence of the irritating man-child bounty hunter Dante (Johnny Yong Bosch). However, I must confess that the show managed to trigger my post-Y2K nostalgia, so indebted to the pop culture of that decade that it made me feel reverence for a video game I've never played in my life.

The dialogue sometimes reaches a little too hard to find its edge or gets too caught up in winking references, including one to Iron Man 3 in which a character shrieks about flying armor. Not that the series often gives a lot of time to dwell on these downsides. It moves with lightning [s]peed, bouncing from one frenetic fight sequence to another.