Z/Web

Another twist on the “end of the world virus” story. In this case it’s morphed with the typical “trapped teens in the woods with a serial killer” plot. We aren’t privy to where the virus came from (no silly lectures here on genetic research gone awry like in Dead Alive.

Surprisingly fun and well-done vampire action flick. Kate Beckinsale takes a break from her serious drama roles and romatic leads and plays an action heroine. She’s a vampire and hunts down werewolves (Liken). The war between the species has been going on for over 1,000 years, though for the last six hundred it’s been less stressful since the key Liken leader was killed and the Liken have almost been completely exterminated. But she uncovers a conspiracy: it seems the Liken leader was not killed as reported. He’s still alive and rebuilding his army. He’s after a particular human for an unknown reason, and when the girl rescues him, she discovers he was bitten and is now Liken himself. But she’s fallen in love with him despite that such an affair is forbidden. So we’re in the middle of a war, a conspiracy within a conspiracy, and a forbidden love affair. Of course this isn’t great drama but cool action, and Beckinsale does a suprisingly awesome job at it: she’s sexy and cool and clever and ruthless. The story gets muddled at times (was the bad young vampire bad or not?) and is too cleanly explained in the end (all neat and tidy), but the ending drew an actual cheer from the theatre audience who delighted in seeing the bad guy defeated in such dramatic fashion. Nothing profound here by any means, but neat action, a fun heroine, good special effects (excellent werewolf transformations), and an interesting new take on the whole vampire legend.