Well, its a bit late, and although you may have a hard time even finding this...movie in theatres now, here's my review for Kurt Wimmer's latest gun-kata flick:

Review: Ultraviolet (2006) - Directed by Kurt Wimmer
Rated Pg-13 for sequences of violent action throughout, partial nudity and language.

Alright, so let's say you're a promising director that's coming off making an acclaimed cult film. The pressure's on now to try and top yourself. Here are some tips on what not to do:

• Use the same one-man-army fighting in a post-apocalyptic, totalitarian future plot.
  
• Ride the coattails of the comic book craze without actually basing your film on a real comic.
• Cast Milla Jovovich in a role that requires emotions other than fear and anger.
• Write a script with dialogue that caters to a younger audience.
• Make something grand and elaborate, disregarding available funds.

In Ultraviolet, Kurt Wimmer's latest attempt since the fan-favorite Equilibrium, the talented director ignores every one of these above tips. What we're left with is Equilibrium 1.5 with an added vampire-like story line, less intelligence, and far less entertainment.

In Ultraviolet, Violet (Milla Jovovich), who is apparently some kind of enhanced vampire 'super' soldier called a hemophage, finds herself infiltrating a high-tech building to steal some powerful new weapon. After her successful escape, however, she opens the case she stole to find not a new bomb or gun, but instead a human boy. Now she must fight the humans that are trying to reclaim him, as well as her fellow hemophages that are angry with her betrayal.

For me, this movie fails in three very pivotal areas: plot, effects, and acting.

First off, the plot. This can probably be partly blamed on the horrible PG-13 cut provided by the studio, but there is such a lack of character motivation in this film its laughable. The biggest example being Violet's opening of a case to a weapon that she was told several times contains the ultimate weapon that will destroy her race. In the first moment of down-time after escaping with it, the first thing Violet (who was built up to be quite disciplined) does is betray her orders. From there, the character flip-flops between being motherly, bad-ass, and cowardly for little to no reason.

Secondly, the effects. Although some scenes are acceptable (and even quite imaginative), there are several that are just far too grand for what the budget allowed. But that's not much of an excuse. If you don't have a massive budget, perhaps you should think about toning down the scale? And it's not like Wimmer doesn't have experience in this area. Equilibrium was equally low budget, but he adapted the story to fit the constraints. And the soft yet bold color scheme emulating a comic book feel was all well and good...that is if Ultraviolet was actually a comic. It seemed to me calling it a comic-like movie was just an excuse for poor dialogue. Which brings me to my last big gripe: acting.

Milla Jovovich is a good actress, to a point. She is skilled in expressing only 2 emotions: fear and anger. And that's only when she doesn't have to actually talk. She was fine in The 5th Element, for instance, because her few lines of dialogue were usually in a gibberish alien language. But in Ultraviolet, which required her to talk much more than she should be allowed, her scenes are nothing short of cringe-inducing. Likewise, the supporting cast featuring the likes of William Fitchtner and child star Cameron Bright (who Sci-Fi fans may recognize as Orlin from Stargate Sg-1), is equally uninspired and fatally underdeveloped.

Ultraviolet is a prime example of too many ideas and not enough self-control (or funding) to translate them to the screen. If you find enjoyment in mindless (and very repetitive) action and can stand some of the worst, prepubescent dialogue imaginable, then by all means try and find a theatre still playing Ultraviolet. If, however, you're looking for a smart follow-up to Equilibrium, expect disappointment.

Rating: 2/5