Beckinsale surprisingly good, male leads surprisingly bad

Rating: 3/10 (21 February 2005)

The pleasant surprise is that Kate Beckinsale in black leather and stringy hair is surprisingly game and credible as an vampire butt-kicking killer. The unpleasant surprise is that the male leads of this picture are, almost uniformly, godawful-- costar and love interest Speedman is a total block of lead, a Michael Lembeck for our time, while bad guy Brolly is unintentionally hilarious every time he scrunches up his mouth in a widdle-bitty pout and tries to be menacingly evil. Even Bill Nighy, who has done some good things, is a bland choice for the middle-aged King of the Vamps, he looks like Mr. Greenjeans in Halloween makeup, and proves a pale shadow of the character who probably inspired his casting, Corin Redgrave in the brilliant British vampire miniseries Ultraviolet. (Only Michael Sheen, recently seen as a swishy sort in Bright Young Things, doesn't embarrass himself.) All in all, this is a dull, backstory-heavy muddle with little to recommend it. Naturally, a sequel is on the way.