Considerably better than expected, if you are familiar with the genre...

Rating: 8/10 (20 September 2003)

This is another perfect example of a film where generally the critics just don't get it. This was definitely made for a certain audience, probably familiar with a certain type of modern-Gothic vampire lore, and agreeably with elements taken from recent films and a certain unnamed role-playing system (shhh, don't want a lawsuit).
Statement of Fact: Every film borrows elements from some other film. No one can deny that. Just because the elements borrowed are trends in other recent films, popular, profitable trends mind you, it's not wrong to borrow a few of them. It's because they are new, and fresh in our minds that people call them "rip-offs". To the people who say that the film is Blade-like and/or Matrix-like, yeah, sure, you'd have to be delusional not to see that. Of course, you should also be raising up arms about every war film that involved an in-plane cockpit scene, or every police drama where an officer was a corrupt puppet of some crime lord. Nothing new about borrowed visual and plot ideas, it's just O.K. in these circumstances because "that's normal", or maybe because the original film/stage play that first used that concept has been lost in time. For those of us who do like to see those derivative elements reappear in film again and again, we don't have any problem with it.
Also, the movie does possess a sub-plot which is quite intricate, and not revealed to the viewer in one big easy to understand lump. For those of us who like to lose ourselves in the details of a movie, and not just in it's visual drama or catchy one-liners, and can bend ourselves into the world that is being presented to us, this movie is all about that. Many complaints about this film deal with the non-typical plot mechanism where you aren't really presented with stereotypical "good-guys" or "bad-guys" to become comfortable with and root for. Honestly, I think that was my favorite part of the story itself, and how it was slowly revealed itself to the viewer.
Of course, many people are not interested in delving into a fantasy world as this, or familiar with the rules of the genre. Those people I can see are going to lose interest in watching the film, and be more aware of the films shortfalls, which there are a few (guns firing more bullets than it's clip would suggest. A somewhat overdone ending battle. And it's never daylight, yet the film eludes to more than one day going by. Thought we wouldn't notice I guess). I can understand their viewpoint, and I'm sorry you wasted your money. But for those who do enjoy this kind of thing and appreciate it, it does a very good job of keeping ones interest.
And for $23mil and a two-month shoot time, I'd have to say they did a pretty darn good job...