A classy movie showing technique and skilled use of animatronics

Rating: Null/10 (3 March 2004)

To be quite frank I was first led to look at what lay beneath by the poster featured in a pop-up add. Since then I was totally hooked by the storyline, the characters and the new twist to an old tale.
The notion of Lycans (werewolves) and Vampires fighting it out in a modern day metropolis was indeed intriguing to say the least. The initial clash between Selene's (Kate Beckinsale) "Death Dealers" and Lucian's Lycan warriors was intriguing in that while it was evident they were following a human it did not reveal an inch into the intricate plot that follows.
To begin we are led to see the current strife through Selene's eyes that is of a human turned Vampire by one of the most powerful Vampire elders to ever stalk the earth (Viktor). We never for a moment stop to consider the Lycans as being the misunderstood Good guys and the Vampires as conspiring villans.

We arrive to comprehend and sympathise with her as he revives her maker believing it to be the best course fo action in order to save the coven. For her the current interim leader Kraven is more of a bearaucrate than a warrior and therefore he can never understand the threat she perceives as coming from the Lycans.
The story gets more complicated as you go along and climaxes with the realization that the Vampires are really after a specific human (Michael Corvin) a direct decendant from the one human that originated both the Lycan and Vampire breeds. The aim of the lycans is to create a Lycan/Vampire hybrid with which to win ultimate victory against the Vampire covens and their Elders.
The animation effects were great and the use of animatronics and prothetics was something I had not seen in a while. In recent movies we have seen an increased usage of CGI graphics but these always come across as too perfect and lack a serious "reality" factor that can only be obtained from "real" movement. For instance the Lycan animatronic heads were extraordinary in both range of movement as well as realism. You seriously start to believe that if werewolves were real..they would look just like that!
At any rate I am REALLY eager to see whether they do come up with a sequel. The subtle innuendo at the end of the movie was that the Elder Marcus (the only other direct descendant of Alexander Corvinus) is tainted by the blood of a dead Lycan which poors into his tomb and that he too now possesses the hybrid power shown by Michael in is battle with Viktor. I would really be curious to see how it all turns out and whether a new coven / faction would arise under the command of Selene/Michael or whether they would both still be outcasts by both groups.
Definitely one of my favourite movies.