Leather

Rating: 3/10 (22 September 2003)

It's funny how one or two bad performances can drag the whole thing down. Kraven (Shane Brolly) didn't even fit in with the rest of the strong performances - strong given it is a special effects soup that defies the rules of both vampire and Werewolf "accepted lore" for no real effect. Even if you buy the bio-engineering medical technology portion, there is no possibility in any tradition that I am familiar with that the dead can get pregnant. Maybe I'm a purist, but that bothered me. And the instant healing is getting a little crazy - The whole highlander x-men thing is getting out of hand. I think the point has always been that Vampires and Werewolves can eventually recover from anything if they don't lose the will to live. But instant healing is a little too far out there even for me. Beckinsale is easy on the eyes, but I had hoped for a little more range of emotion. Sheen and Speedman do remarkably well with what they had to work with and Nighy is wonderfully over the top as the king of the hill should be. My last gripe is that not enough was made of the vampiric speed. If they are not going to be shape shifters (as some are and some aren't depending on the movie) then the speed has got to be there. They started to touch on it with the "super being cross breed" in the final show down with Viktor but then they just glossed it over. Plot point deductions drag this down for a high eight in my way of thinking to a low five. That being said I might watch it again and see if I feel the same.