good dumb fun

Rating: Null/10 (1 May 2004)

A no-brainer, but a FUN no-brainer, so that's all right.
I think I saw this movie three times in the cinema within the week of its release, and every time I watched it I came away thinking that, despite the fact that it had obviously sucked in places, I had still seen a good film.
So what made it such a mixed bag of emotions for me? If you look at it one way, you have a well-paced modern action film that pays some very obvious tribute to American comic books, Japanese Anime, and The Matrix. If looked at in the other way, however, you find you have a sloppy Matrix clone that's just recycling stunts and tricks from older, better films. Part of the problem is that the supporting evidence for each argument can easily be applied to the opposition as well.
In the end, I say that the best thing to do with this film is to just sit back and enjoy the ride. Give in to your shallow values and just admire all those gorgeous vampires. When it gets right down to it, there is nothing wrong with admiring Kate Beckinsale's body at all, and that alone is almost enough to carry this movie off.