I Can't Believe I watched the whole thing...

Rating: 3/10 (14 June 2004)

Not, mind you, that this movie is incredibly long; it's a minute over 2 hours if you include the credits.
No, the reason that this movie was so long was because it was extraordinarily poorly done. There were parts that were worthwhile, but they mostly fell into the eye candy category (such as Kate Beckinsdale in a PVC catsuit).
The Lycans, which are going to be the special effects centerpiece of almost any movie involving werewolves, looked okay... until someone decided that they needed to run along walls and ceiling, at which points they looked strained and robotic.
The vampires, unfortunately, seem in no way vampiric. Yes, we have one of them leap to the ceiling and bare her fangs. Yes, they jump off buildings with aplomb and flair. But, as near as we can tell, they are acrobats with bad dental hygiene. Only the Big Bad really ever acts like a vampire, but most of his blood comes from tubes in the back of his head. They're apparently allergic to sunlight, but their mansion has big, airy, windows in nearly every room. Does garlic affect them? What about religious icons?
As for the rest, however, it really wasn't worth the time. For example, you have Selene (Kate Beckinsdale) begin the movie with a monologue about how this secret war has been going on for "the better part of a thousand years."
And then the first step in this secret war is for people to shoot up a busy subway with fully automatic weapons. You have elder vampires "leapfrogging through time", but no explanation as to why, or what the covenant they keep mentioning is about. The main "technobabble" part of the plot is never clear... how is Michael going to unite these bloodlines? Why was Amelia's blood necessary if Selene also had to bite him? None of it is explained in a way that makes things clear and, while everything might have made sense to the characters, they're not the ones you're making this kind of movie for.
Time is also handled poorly in this movie, as you get no real sense of it passing between scenes. Did Michael complete the change early, or was there a day in between those two? We don't know. Time just happens, and the audience doesn't see it or know about it.
Lastly, the final fight, the penultimate scene, wherein the Big Bad does. not. notice. that. his. head. has. been. cut. in. half. Selene jumps, she slices, she lands. The Big Bad whirls around, shoots two short-swords from up his sleeves... and only notices that his head has been cut in half when he sees blood.
The premise had potential. The execution should have been just that... an execution.