Sorry if this topic is posted elsewhere, but I couldn't find it anywhere under the Movies forum.

I saw this movie last night. It wasn't my choice, but I got a little more intrigued about the movie as it neared its release. Sadly, my initial opinion was correct. It was just really hard to take the film seriously. Movies have been imitating elements of The Matrix, but this movie blatantly has too many things reminiscent of The Matrix. And I wonder what was up with most of the characters sporting British accents.

Things reminiscent of The Matrix: 1) the elaborate gun battles (is it my imagination, or did Kate Beckinsale look really awkward firing guns and doing action?), 2) Kate Beckinsale with black hair and skintight shiny black leather (Carrie-Ann Moss, anyone?), 3) the slow-motion acrobatic stunts (but that's the norm now), 4) the "resurrection" of the male lead (if that's what you want to call the actor portraying Michael Corvin) at the end--he was even killed Neo-style--and 5) one species fighting another species (instead of man vs. machine, it's vampire vs. werewolf). Even the character of Viktor reminded me of the Architect from The Matrix: Reloaded.

Things that I found hilarious: 1) for what in the world were all those people inside the main vampire mansion just sitting around all day drinking wine in elegant dress? 2) There was absolutely no practical purpose for Kate Beckinsale's character being shrink-wrapped in shiny black leather. At least in The Matrix, Carrie-Ann Moss' character has the excuse of having her "residual, digital self." 3) Craven was always angry. I thought he was going to turn green and wind-surf a la the Incredible Hulk (you saw Hulk flying through the air, it was downright comical). 4) What idiot was in charge of the security system for that main vampire mansion? It's really not all that great if someone can just walk into a room and flip a switch to cause a massive blackout. 5) That blonde vampire obsessed with becoming Craven's bride really got me laughing when she was startled by Michael Corvin and leapt onto the ceiling, her fangs sprouted out and her hissing. She reminded me of a cat (:

Things that were missed opportunities: 1) the character of Lucian fascinated me. He was actually the only character I liked. Alas, they had to ruin that for the viewers. Though, none of these actors I've ever heard of before. That's another problem: too many unknown actors. Kate couldn't possibly shoulder this entire movie. 2) If they were going to stick to the old myth that werewolves transform under the full moon and are killed by silver, the least they could've done was have the vampires metamorphose into bats. At least then they might've been a little bit strong. As it stood, the werewolves were SO MUCH stronger.

Overall, I'd give this movie a C-. Go back to the drawing board, Guys. They could've EASILY wrapped this movie up with a single, stand-alone film. Instead, they're trying to set it up for a sequel. Puh-lease. If they release a sequel, I'd rather watch Mrs. Doubtfire for nine hours straight than watch the sequel. This franchise can't possibly go anywhere.

Another thing reminiscent of The Matrix: Michael Corvin's apartment number appears on Kate's character's computer screen, the camera pans in, the number turns into the actual seal on the door, and there's a sound of data-processing during the transition. Even the people sitting in front of me said, "Hey, just like in The Matrix."

I'd wait for the DVD instead. Also, did you know that Kate Beckinsale's now engaged to the director, Len Wiseman?

Game company White Wolf are currently suing over the movie, claiming the film infringes the copyright of various elements of their World Of Darkness universe.

http://www.white-wolf.com/news/underworldrelease.html

http://homepages.cquest.utoronto.ca/~cks/whitewolf.complaint.pdf

One thing I found absolutely hilarious was the Wile-e-Coyote effect at the end when it takes Viktor a second to realize his head's been cut in half.

D. Stuart makes some good points but I liked both The Matrix and this movie, even though I ususally despise vampire movies and this was better than the second. The actor who played Lucian has actually been on several movies, but I believe most of them were after this one; many other actors in this movie were also recognizable.

I thought Kate looked unbelievibly hot in anything she wore for this movie, there were different outfits. Why did Corvin have blue skin as a mix breed? The warewolves didn't change skin tone much and the vampires were all pale, except the black one(s). How did Marco(?) 'drink' that lichen's blood when it leaked through the floor? With Victor, the thing that funnelled blood into his mouth had to be moved, and I don't recall seeing blood running down his face, so unless vampires can 'feed' directly through the skin Marko should be still be sleeping.

There was recently a Myth Busters episode about the scene when Saleen(?) shot a hole in the floor for her to fall through and it was deemed "busted." Saleen also uses different pairs of weapons throughout the movie, and they both act like machine pistols. The first pair are Beretta's, and I believe the full-auto Beretta is the 93 model. The second pair, I believe, are Glocks but they definately aren't the G-18 machine pistols. Also, where does this movie take place? Everybody speaks with an British accent but it looks like the movie is in Italy.

They don't mention it in the movie, but that address (misspelled though it is) is apparently in Budapest.