Ultraviolet

Personally, I love Milla. Even in this, she's still Milla. She's hot, she's fit and she handles the 'tough' role well. I hold the director responsible for bringing it all together. Personally, I didn't 'dislike' this movie. It reminds me of Doom. With the right budget, the right director and time, it could have been the best film of the year. Otherwise, it will leave you feeling like something's been left out. What I liked was the fact I went for a cheesy, mass-action, campy, comic-book/video game movie. I expected fighting, explosions, gratuitous scenes with some nudity and a minimal plot. No, this isn't plot intensive like Silent Hill. (Again, an underlying feature that could have been better handled). So, if you're like me, and you enjoy seeing Milla do her thang, faceless soldiers being under mass slaughter and needless, gratuitous violence, then this is the film for you. Of course, I look for this type of movie only once per year. Just as a break from everything else. The quota has been filled!

Ultraviolet was embarrassingly terrible on so many levels. My husband and I usually really dig the comic book and action movies, so I think that our expectations were reasonable for the genre. The kinds of movies that Ultraviolet tried to channel were X-Men, The Matrix and Underworld. Unfortunately, this movie failed to do so.

1) Dialogue was laughably bad. One of Milla's lines was actually "Because these beautiful moments turn evil when they're over." What?? This was regarding a romantic pass made at her. Totally incongruous with the setting. 2) Excessive use of CGI is a personal irritant. Additionally, the motorcycle chase scenes were only one step above TRON. I might as well have been watching my 11 year old neighbors play some video game. 3) Zero character development. I didn't care about Violet, the french guy, the scientist guy, the pretty boy, or the evil nose filter guy. I didn't care about their individual goals (mainly because they weren't very clear). I didn't care about characters dying, and I didn't care about the revelation at the end; the only indicator that I had that it was important was her somewhat awed reaction.

To be fair, Milla Jovovich has an incredible face and body and is well-suited for fight scenes. If all-CGI, all-the-time is your thing, then you'll be thrilled with the loads of glossed-over fight scenes involving Milla and hordes of green screen baddies. If you're like our entire theater, you're bored. Really, fake fights just don't impress me.

After having been given repeated warnings about how bad this film is, I went ahead and watched a borrowed copy. About thirty minutes into the film I had reached a decision: I was enjoying it. While certainly not Oscar-winning material, most people apparently were expecting some kind of cinematic masterpiece rather than what they got, an over-the-top comic book-like action set piece with a modicum of plot to tie together the action sequences.

The gunkata sequences, closer to Wimmer's original idea of the form, do not approach the stark and yet orgiastic death-art of Equilibrium, but they're fun all the same. The movie is full of neat, if improbable, gadgetry, from gravity manipulators to disposable paper cell phones. Nick Chinlund chews a satisfactory amount of scenery without stuffing himself down the viewer's throat. Milla Jovovich herself manages to use a two-dimensional role to display probably the most range I've ever seen her give outside of "The Messenger", and she was certainly much more attractive in this movie than in any of the others I've ever watched her in. All these things contribute to what amounted to a popcorn bowl of a film: not something you'd eat for every meal, but a nice snack for a change of pace when you don't want something too substantial.

The problem seems to be that most people can't just shut off their brains and enjoy a romp once in a while. Would this film ever seriously contend for Best Anything? No. But it certainly does not deserve the almost universal slagging it has gotten since its release. Ignore what you've heard, don't expect too much, and you might just find yourself being entertained for an hour and a half.

Look, let's be serious. The movie is flashy and fantastic, buried in cgi and special effects, and the plot is rather obscure and strange. What makes the movie good is that it does go over the top. This movie dazzles.

If Mila catches your eye, this movie may be the finest piece that she did around this time. So beautiful.

The opening few minutes of Kurt Wimmer's Ultraviolet is a rip roaring, pulse pounding set up of action sequences and chases. Then the film calms down for a little breather until the next amazing fight sequence.

Following a holocaust some humans have become Hemophages, a sub-species with enhanced physical abilities. Violet, must protect a nine-year-old boy who has been marked for death by the human government.

In the wake of 2005's disappointing Aeon Flux, underrated Kurt Wimmer director of Equilibrium (2002) writer of The Recruit (2003) and Salt (2010) set about creating an up-to-the-minute Sci-fi.However, after shooting wrapped Kurt left after being pressured to deliver less emotional PG-13 rated film. In turn, Ultraviolet was completely re-edited by the studio and apparently this marred the finished product significantly.

Acting wise, William Fichtner puts in an unusual performance, Sebastien Andrieu and Nick Chinlund both seem unsure what's going on. With an abundance of forgettable bad guys, Milla Jovovich excellently plays Violet who has enhanced speed, incredible stamina and acute intelligence. Her character at first seems very one dimensional as she plays her usual Resident Evil kick-ass self. But even in the short running time her character develops, you're given glimpses into here past, as she bonds with 'Six' played well by Cameron Bright.

There's great effects, stunts and a thumping score. A lot of reviews have criticised the CGI usage, however, it's stylised, hyper-real and sleek. It's not meant to be faithful representation of a real world. Holograms, swords, a new invented language, gun-fighting and martial arts. It's science fiction entertainment, set in the 21st century, nothing more, nothing less.

It's fast, it's fun - Ultraviolet is an pleasing sci-fi action but possibly could have been so much more if Wimmer was allowed to deliver his cut.