Ultraviolet Review

I saw this at a midnight showing last night and was stunned at how bad it was.Anyone that gives this a pass forfeits their rights to ever make fun of Uwe Boll again. I loved Equilibrium but this is Uwe Boll badness on a larger scale.

My significant other insisted on seeing this (anything with vampires). What I thought was interesting was that Wimmer used primarily a Hong Kong crew which to me explains why the action sequences were framed better than some recent American films. My favorite part of the film was the title sequence. I liked your review, Kurt, as it pointed out comparisons to some films I am not yet familiar with.

Yes, tragically, there is a shade or two of Uwe in there, mainly in the acting and story-continuity department. But I think Wimmer is aiming for something different in the visual dept. UV can suffer from a 'trying-to-hard' vibe at times, but it has ambitions towards pushing the envelope visually, which is more than can be said for Mr. Boll.

This picture suggest blood should of been present in the film, but was erased for the PG-13 rating. (Members of the stunt team have been interviewed sugggesting the original cut featured a lot more head and leg lobbings)

http://www.freewebs.com/equilibrium-movie/UltraViolet_wrap.jpg

I was beginning to suspect the film wouldn't be too great. Wimmer is very inventive, but he might be better at simply directing action (like Corey Yuen in The Transporter) with someone else directing the film itself.

Kurt, your review *almost* makes we want to see this film! But with a Rotten Tomatoes score currently at 4% (I think that must make UV the worst reviewed film of 2006 to date), I'm still a bit hesistant! Right now, top of my must try and see in theatres list is still Night Watch, and Cache (both now on limited release here in Toronto, and getting much better word of mouth). Still, Milla does look gorgeous in her suit!

Here's the link to the mauling UV is getting, by the mainstream press:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10004504-ultraviolet/

Award for meanest review soundbite has to be to the Greenwich Village Gazette:

"If you want to break up with your significant other, take him/her to this turd."

OUCH! God, I actually feel like going to UV and liking it, just to spite some of those mean-spirited critics. I mean for them to not even reward this film on a visual/action level, is quite dispiriting. Then again the mainstream press didn't get Equilibrium, so what do they know.

Wow Kurt. I thought I was alone with my opinion of the movie but it looks like we both have the same take on it. It really is a quirky little experiment that won't find an audience- even if there is definitely some thought behind it. Granted, I still found the experiment a failure (a large part of it was because of the watered down fight scenes...here's hoping for a director's cut), but it's still good to see cinematic oddities every now and then.

My take was that if I was a prepubescent teenager I would really have enjoyed this film - esp. Milla's stomach - but since I am long long past that I was in near pain watching this (as was apparently much of the crowd that left early) - complete and utter dreck of the most excessive kind - terrible action choreography, idiotic plot and a pallette of colors that would be neat in a Milan fashion show but are just masturbatory here - this isn't much removed from watching someone else play a video game - worst film I have seen in years and I have seen a lot of bad films!

Funny enough, I am on the fence on this one.

It is not a good movie but it was interesting to watch as an experiment.

I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone but I'm not demanding my money back either.

Like I said ... on the fence.

I dont get how people can say the movie wasnt good enough, or that they wouldnt recommend it but give it a pass as some sort of experiment? This movie was just garbage, from the lack of blood and overdependance on CG, half the begining looked like I was watching a game cinema. Just garbage all around and I find the lack of reviews on internet sites kind of odd, maybe because they think it'll be against geek, proEquilibrium ethic to diss it.

A film about vampires without blood? In the hands of a different filmaker it could have worked. Kurt Wimmer definately dropped the hammer on this film. I couldn't enjoy the action sequences. Extremely bland and boring boring boring. Then I hoped the story would be at least decent. No dice. The only things I enjoyed were the bad lines and the bad actors. "It's a child and a weapon!"

I loved Equilibrium, and I had a gut feeling going into the film that it was going to dissapoint, but I told myself "as long the action is good n' plenty it will be alright". Well the film was a complete mess! It was like a 90 minute Loreal ad.

I don't feel robbed like I did when I saw Battlefield Earth because my cereal box yielded a movie pass for any of the theatre chains here in the T.O. But I still can't find my wallet after this afts viewing. Anyone?

Ultraviolet is crap from start to finish.

Oh yes, I do think that Ultraviolet is so baaad it is good. It hit my surreal/artifical(in a good way)/WTF visual pleasure-buttons in the same way as CASSHERN did.

out of 10 stars this movie gets -1, wow! what a piece of trash. At least equilibrium had style and pinosh, a kick butt experience. UltraViolet had tons of potential. It seems as if half way through the making of the movie the producers ran out of money and decided to hire a novice choreographer for the fight scenes and middle schoolers for the CG. Truly a piece of trash that should never have been released.

Movie Trailer > Movie

EQ was on FX yesterday and even watching one scene it was amazing how much better the actors were in that film compared to this. And considerind the pacing was more balanced as opposed to someone having a seizure it just comes across so much better. It's like, how could this come from the same director?

Except Casshern is a flawed work of genius while this is just awful from start to finish - not even a good guilty pleasure movie.

I read your review before going to see the film *thankfully*. My brother was disappointed, feeling like 'something' was missing. I noticed it too. Be it story, heart, what have you, there was a hole. What's sad is Milla is an actress you like or hate. I dislike her uppity attitude, especially as it came through in her acting here, but enjoy her in general as an action actress. I have to say, that the best thing I've heard yet is this: The movie feels rushed. It feels like they may have done more, but somehow, there was no cutting room for this movie. Personally, I enjoyed it. From time to time I enjoy the intense, ultra violent action with guns, explosions and *partial* nudity. I wouldn't necessarily watch this again (since there is no more exposed milla - haha, just kidding), but as for a one time, action sequence movie - it scores above and beyond most films for 2006. Given a better budget, more time and yes, an additional director, this film could have been great. If spielberg were to handle it, it might have scored big.
I didn't mind the cheesy 'storm trooper' soldiers, the ultra-unbelievable technology or other such features. I did mind the consistent cross symbology. The ministry, the swords, and so on - were all built to put a 'deeper' meaning into it that completely failed. A nice try - but way too far from the mark. The implied knowledge of UV's slow motion abilities during the fight scenes was not well defined. I know it may have been a bit campy, but a matrix-level fight was necessary to emphasize that point. The fight scene on the roof with the chinese may have worked - had that not been an additional story-line wound that was beyond repair.
The biggest flaw for me, was milla's appearance. This movie obviously required her to gain weight, during the filming. Upon close observation of her face, stomach and thighs - there are almost two completely distinct body weights. It seemed the close-up shots required a heavier weight. Why? I'm still working that out. But, it was terribly annoying - since it caught me off gaurd and distracted from just 'enjoying' what I could of the movie.
In summary - beyond the lack of story - milla's needing better directing and the lack of budget - anyone who wants a good old fashioned smash, crash and destroy scene with enough plot to set it above cheesy, old kung fu movies, and a very nice shot of milla from the backside - this would be the movie to watch. Personally, I'm looking forward to xmen for the higher budget visual effects, the fantastical fight scenes, and most importantly, a story line that is gripping. Excellent review you did! Again. It made it possible for me to 'expect' what I saw, and not be dissappointed by a commercial budget that obviously exceeded the film budget.

You people are so wierd. You probobly never watched it. This movie was amazing the story was a little well off but the fighting was cool!And there graphics wernt that bad

As bad as "House of the Dead", which, I think, tells it all... I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!!!!!

although not much story ..i enjoyed it..the CGI is one of a kind..great action movie!

I must admit that the frist time I saw Ultraviolet, I was deeply disappointed. Howerver, upon viewing it a second time.....I rather enjoyed it.