Review - Ultraviolet (2006)

“Are you mental?”

Director: Kurt Wimmer
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Nick Chinlund
Screenplay: Kurt Wimmer

Kurt Wimmer was the man behind Equilibrium, which was a flawed film but had some potential. Rumours started floating about that the studio had hacked the movie up, so when I heard that he was going to helm a science fiction vampire movie with Milla Jovovich I was on board. Surely with the fan base Wimmer had gained with Equilibrium they wouldn’t touch this movie. Then the rumours started again that the studio had hacked the movie, except this time the product is possibly one of the worst films out there.

First off we have the acting, and while it’s always nice to be able to look at Milla Jovovich this does not make a good actress though compared with everyone else in this movie she does a fine enough job. Honestly most of the actors just either don’t seem to care or believe that because they are in a science fiction movie they need to turn the acting up to eleven. Best example of the over acting is Nick Chinlund as Daxus the villain of the piece. I guess they were going for quirky but damn is he just a piss poor villain, at no point does he seem threatening and even when he has 700 men behind him guarding his back he comes off as a weakling.

Next up we have the story. While I would love to be able to tell you the plot, it’s just a god damn mess. The simple premise is there are humans and vampires, and there is a special child who might have an antigen that will kill all vampires. Milla plays the vampire Violet who is trying to fight for vampire rights. Or something like that I don’t really care. As much as I would like to jump to Wimmer’s defence and say that the plot is horrid thanks to studio tampering, it’s just not the case. There is not a shred of good story telling and in the end the only reason why the studio took over editing is that they had to try and salvage something from an over complicated plot.

Visually the movie is at least unique but can be over done. Buildings, fashion styles, weapons etc nothing really matches and things seem to be designed with a ‘what’s cool’ mentality rather than what suits the world approach. Fights happen and while they can look pretty good they really don’t flow with the story, in fact there is a fight on top of a building where everything just stops so they can build up the tension for about 2 minutes. Honestly this movie seems to be directed by a nerd giving into wish fulfilment.

In the end this is not how you make a film and I’m really sorry Kurt Wimmer but you can’t hide behind studio tinkering you’re just not that good. I almost wish Kurt would write a script and then give it to someone else to make as this could produce better results. Avoid this movie; even those who make a point in watching bad movies should turn around and watch something else, WITH MY MIGHTY CAPS I RECOMMEND THE BBC SERIES ULTRAVIOLET, it too has vampires but unlike this movie it’s good.