Great! [SPOILERS]

Rating: 10/10 (9 February 2004)

I think this movie was just GREAT! The story was solid and interesting though not excessively complicated or intrguing. The jist of the story is that a 1,000 year plus war has been waged between vampires and werewolves. You really don't find out why for sometime so you'll need to be patient. It's the best vampire movie I've seen in a LOOOOOOOONG time!
That's not to say it was perfect. On the contrary, it certainly could have used some polishing. One thing that annoyed me about this movie was that everyone, and that means 99% of the cast, wore black or red even the vampires home was all black, red and white. The flashback scenes were annoing but tolerable for most. I don't like some of the techniques used today so most won't have a problem with it. Beckinsale was great in the role but I think the character needed more developing. Her rough, "I've been so hurt" edge made her look emotionless, cold and for the most part disinteresting. You walk away feeling you never really knew the character at all. When Selene and Michael fall in love the first thing you wonder is how?! He certainly could not know much about her especially at that point. In fact you are not sure how Kahn, who seems to be her closest friend (which is not saying much), became her confidant at all. The romance of Selene and Michael is not buyable and almost suffocates the love story of Lucian and Sonja's love tragedy. The latter probably being one of the film's redeeming points albeit a brief one.
Some people complained about the fact that they had no idea where the tale takes place and that werewolves can climb walls/ceilings, vampires can see their reflections, etc., This didn't bother me but I don't see a need to assume folklore must be adhered to in a movie. They were not killed by traditional means either. It's thereby safe to assume that these vampires, whether other worldly or not, are simply not of the same variety that we know. I don't think it is that big of an issue or a deal. The one thing along this line though which did trouble me was that with the strengths and powers of the vampires compared with that of the werewolves it is simply amazing that the previous survived as long as they had as it seemed the werewolves had the out ranked in abilities.
Still, though it may not sound it, I genuinely loved it and highly recommend it to any horror fan. I'm praying for a part two!