A bit lacking, but stylish and fun

Rating: 9/10 (27 September 2003)

Well, I was super-hyed for this movie, so I was glad it wasn't TOO much of a letdown... *cough cough* like "Once Upon A Time In Mexico"... worst movie ever *cough cough*.
Kate Beckinsale is the hot'n'sexy Deathdealer (although she looked better in Serendipity... unless you're into Goth chicks), Selene. Very stylish, very stylish.
Not sure whether it was intended or not, but I honestly had no idea who was on which side in that first shootout until later on (minus Beckinsale being a Vampyre, of course). This kinda disappointed me as I like to know what the Hell is going on *cough cough* "Once Upon A Time In Mexico" fails again *cough cough*.
So anyway, I liked Beckinsale. She does a good acting job. Scott Speedman was... eh... subpar, as you can pretty much always expect from a TV actor trying to make the leap into film these days. Their romance was TOTALLY underplayed (hey, much like Kevin Smith, I'm a sucker for chick flicks).
In one comment, I saw a point brought up about Michael still not being able to beatdown Viktor after becoming the "über-powerful" hybrid Lycan-Vampyre, but this was because he did not obtain the blood of the Ancient Ones like Lucian had planned (thus why he had the current ruling Elder Vampyre, Amelia, drained of her blood on the train). Selene's blood was of MUCH weaker potency as she was not a purebred Vampyre.
I found the part of the plot relating to the Vampyre Elders rather fascinating, so I which they would've developed it more. Viktor TOTALLY reminded me of Kain from "The Legacy of Kain" games. If you haven't played these games and have a game system that can play all of them (i.e. PS2), I highly recommend them. They're awesome.
So, uhh, to summarize, I liked the movie a pretty good deal. It basically just needed at least one part (romance, history, etc.) of it to be developed upon more to give the movie more of a definitive stance on something. Without such, it just seemed a little weak in overall direction.
Anyway... a fun flick. 8/10 for style and concept, albeit underdeveloped.