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Uwe Boll has gained a reputation during the last few years, mostly on the internet, of being "the worst director ever". Of course, as it usually happens with these exaggerations, I found this rep to be totally unjustified after watching his two "BloodRayne" outings. Sure, they are both flawed, but on the whole they're no worse than the average DTV release you can find in a quick trip to the video store; not to mention that all this negative hype actually works FOR them, because when you sit down to watch them you're expecting something much worse than what you get.

"BloodRayne" was a medieval vampire horror flick with Kristanna Loken as the title character. "BloodRayne II" is a much more contemporary vampire western, and Loken has been replaced with Natassia Malthe. I actually liked both interpretations of the role - Loken is a touch more sensual, but Malthe has perhaps better kicking abilities; the bottom line is, they're both extremely beautiful and their red hair compliments their faces even more. Production-wise, the film is OK, though it doesn't have the "epic" feeling of the first. The script has some flaws (too much time passes before we first meet Rayne, some of the supporting characters - especially her sidekicks - are not very well defined and seem to come out of nowhere, there are minor inconsistencies with the first film, etc.), but I think the weakest aspect of both films is the action itself: Rayne never seems to get into full kick-ass mode, and the action scenes are often too blurry in the first film, too dark here. I did like the nods to Morricone's scores though - were those notes from the harmonica theme in "Once Upon A Time In The West" I heard at one point?

What I enjoyed more about these films is probably the character of BloodRayne herself. She is ageless, she is strong, she can fight, but she is also essentially sweet: she cares about humanity and uses her powers to battle evil supernatural creatures that prey on innocent people. She will drink human blood - but only if it's offered to her, she won't attack you for it (she can live on blood from animals or other vampires). And on top of all that, she has a sense of humor. In other words, Rayne is marriage material. So if they ever make "BloodRayne III" - either with Loken or with Malthe - I'll be there; let's just hope the action scenes are longer and clearer the next time. (**1/2)

"Charlie's Angels" meets "Men In Black", says the tagline on the DVD cover of "Illegal Aliens", and for once they got it right: like CA this movie has a trio of hot female crime-fighters (in this case, aliens in human form), and like MIB their mission is to protect the Earth from aliens with evil ambitions (add a bit of "Superman II", and you pretty much have the plot mix). Of course this is primarily meant to be a spoof, but too often the humor is forced and stale: fart jokes have never been and will never be very funny, and even the satirical and "breaking the fourth wall" jokes (such as a "Villain Monologue Timer" that appears on the screen, or the director of the film yelling "cut" and talking to the actors) have been done before, and better (remember that "Dead Body Counter" in "Hot Shots Part Deux"?). In her last film appearance, Anna Nicole Smith plays the lightheaded, childlike agent: it's an one-note performance, but she hits that one note well and she's pretty adorable. Joanie Laurer AKA Chyna chews the scenery to the 9th degree, which can get pretty tiresome, but at least she's still in good shape - if she ever wanted to return to wrestling, she looks like she could do it. As Anna's fellow agents, Lenise Sorén and Gladys Jimenez play it more straight and come off the best; they both also have fantastic physiques and the skimpy outfits to show them. In fact, I think that the people who will probably get the most out of this movie are the admirers of athletic female bodies. (**1/2)

In comparison to the first "Rage and Honor", this sequel comes out on top in three ways:

1) Better-shot fight scenes

2) Exotic setting (Indonesia) and higher production values (which allow for some chases and explosions along with the martial arts)

3) A good, unexpected twist near the end

On the other hand, it lacks the colorful supporting cast of the first movie (only Patrick Muldoon stands out - the villain and his henchman are generic), and in the final fight it is obvious that Richard Norton's opponent cannot measure up to him, so there's no chance of a good fight scene.

But on the whole, I found this sequel a slight improvement on the original. (**1/2)