Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Comix and Video, March 31, 2006
The Amazon review stated, "As an overdose of eye candy, Ultraviolet can be marginally recommended as the second-half of a double-feature with Aeon Flux. Both films are disposable adolescent fantasies featuring an ass-kicking babe (in this case, the svelte and sexy Milla Jovovich) in a dystopian future, and both specialize in the kind of barely-coherent, video-game storytelling that's constantly overwhelmed by an over-abundance of low-budget CGI."
My question is, "Is there a problem with this?"
Ultraviolet was a fun 'comic book movie' with a touch of Anime feel, a touch of 'Brave New World' and a very interesting blending of CGI that was (in my opinion) not "low budge" but quality controled to straddle the line between the comic book world and the 'live action world. A reasonable "graphic novel" plot... lots of action... nice parody twist on the "guns... lots of guns" bit in Matrix... plot doesn't drag... action doesn't slow down... minor moralizing (just enought to stay true to the genra)... sheesh... what's not to like?
It ain't "Gone wiht the Wind"... but then... wasn't intended to be... If ya' like you're comic-book movies to be comic-book movies you'll love "Ultraviolet"... if ya' want something deep and meaningful... watch "Lord of War"...
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66 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
"Haven't you been paying attention? Killing is what I do. It's what I'm good at.", September 20, 2006
"Hello. My name is Violet and I was born into a world you may not understand." That's the first line of dialog heard from the film Ultraviolet (2006)...after watching the movie last night, I think the following would have been more appropriate..."Hello. My name is Violet and I was born into a movie you may not understand (or even like)." Written and directed by Kurt Wimmer (Sphere, Equilibrium), the film stars Milla Jovovich (Dazed and Confused, The Fifth Element, Resident Evil). Also appearing is Cameron Bright (X-Men: The Last Stand), Nick Chinlund (Con Air, The Chronicles of Riddick), Sebastien Andrieu, and William Fichtner (Heat, The Perfect Storm).
As the movie, set in a messed up future (isn't that always the case?), begins we see some giant bowling balls dropped from the air into a building, and once inside the balls turn into deadly assassins...well, that's a pretty neat trick...anyway, some stuff happens, which leads into a lengthy flashback with voiceover by Jovovich. Apparently, some time ago, a nasty virus was found in Eastern Europe, one which Western powers tried to modify in order to create super soldiers or some such thing, but all they really ended up doing was creating a nastier form of the virus, one which gives it's victims sharper eyesight, acute hearing, enhanced strength, superior healing abilities, and vampire fangs...so what's the downside? Well I tell you...the victims are generally sensitive to light and have an extremely shortened lifespan. Seems those affected, known as Hemophages, were then rounded up by the norms and put into camps for experimentation, and those still on the loose formed an underground resistance movement, of which Violet (Jovovich) is a member. All right, as the flashback/background stuff comes to a close, we find out Vice Cardinal Ferdinand Daxus (Chinlund), the egomaniacal tyrant ruler of the norms has developed a new super weapon, one that supposedly will eliminate the Hemophage threat once and for all, but Violet nicks it through a lengthy and involved series of high-octane action sequences. As it turns out, the weapon just happens to be an idiot child named Six (Bright), whose blood, while deadly to Hemophages, may also contain a cure. Violet soon finds herself stuck in the middle as the leader of the Hemophages, some Euro trash named Nerva (Andrieu) wants the kid dead, while the Vice Cardinal wants back what's his...what follows are numerous dead end scenes between Violet and the kid, lots of running around, some fight sequences, some back door dealing, and ultimately a final showdown as Violet battles her way through an army into the belly of the beast (the Arch Ministry building) to face off against the Vice Cardinal himself, who has some serious secrets of his own...
By the end of this film I was somewhat aggravated...why? A number of reasons, but the main one being it seemed like the story was a patchwork of ideas and concepts, none of them developed particularly well. I did like all the action sequences up front, but once those passed, we were left with having to sit through a whole lot of rotten acting and goofy dialog, the latter being the weakest element of this film, for me, at least. One example in particular happens after Violet liberates Six, and is on the run. After a close encounter with armed authorities, Violet asks Six "Are you damaged?" Why not just ask "Are you hurt?"...I'll tell you why...because it's the future and asking someone if they're `damaged' sounds a lot cooler than asking them if they're hurt, at least in Wimmer's mind, I think. In my mind it just came off as idiotic...I've read the studio re-cut some of the film prior to its release, and even removed some sequences (I read the original film ran about a half hour longer). Did this meddling hurt the movie, resulting in a less than desirable end product? I don't think so, as the flaws seemed ingrained regardless of any tinkering (for a prime example of this go rent the theatrical and renegade DVD releases of the 1991 film Highlander II: The Quickening and tell me which is better). I liked the exteriors, some of the special effects were pretty spiffy (some seemed ridiculously phony), and the fight sequences, for the most part, were fairly engaging, but the slower moments in the middle really caused the feature to drag out. I found it rather annoying near the end when Violet, the one woman army, was invading the Arch Ministry building, and we'd see her come up against a whole mess of guards, only to cut to a scene with her coming through a door, and beyond the door we see the guards from the previous scene lying dead. I did learn a lot from this film, including the following...
1. Milla Jovovich sure likes to show off her midriff (and I like to see it).
2. Body armor in the future is pretty ineffectual given it's tendency to shatter like glass when struck.
3. Germophobia runs wild in the future, to the extent of affecting fashions as people don designer air masks and surgical gowns.
4. In the future you'll be able to carry small to medium sized children around inside fancy, fashionable briefcases that double as backpacks.
5. Uzis fitted with blades that stick out from the bottom seems like overkill (and kinda dumb).
6. Extremely long hair can be detrimental to its owner during hand-to-hand combat.
7. The biohazard symbol seems an awkward and impractical design for a building.
8. In the future most all interiors will be designed to look like bad discothèques.
9. Milla Jovovich's character seems the only one who actually knows how to fight.
10. Milla Jovovich's character can literally pull futuristic gizmos and weaponry out of her ash.
11. Sword usage returns to fashion in the future.
12. What's the only thing cooler than a sword fight sequence? A flaming sword fight sequence!
All in al the film is very slick, stylish, and colorful, laden with a good deal of flashy action sequences (wire work galore) and special effects, but hamstrung by poor performances, terrible dialog, and not a lot of substance. By the way, I've got the `Unrated, Extended' version, which runs about six minutes longer than the theatrical release, but I seriously doubt anyone who only saw the original release is missing much as I doubt those six minutes included anything critical or even worthwhile to the actual film. More or less labeling this the `Unrated, Extended' version was just an attempt by the studio to breathe new life in the aftermarket into a film that died in the box office.
The picture, presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1), looks very sharp and the Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround audio comes through fine. Skimpy extras include an uninteresting commentary track with Milla Jovovich by herself (where the heck is Wimmer?), a featurette titled UV Protection: The Making of Ultraviolet, and English subtitles. Also thrown in are previews for other Sony DVD release including Final Fantasy: Advent Children (2005), Mirrormask (2005), Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School (2005), The Fog (2005), The Benchwarmers (2006), and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006).
Cookieman108
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ultraviolet was ultraviolent, ultracool, and ultrafun, May 4, 2006
I loved Equilibrium and therefore loved this film, which is essentially the director's version of Equilibrium with evolved concepts from that film and featuring the directors take on what makes life meaning for a girl rather than a guy. Incidently, the answer of course is the same--a life without love is not a life at all. You are just waiting to die. I thought that was really neat.
Anyway, this is no Oscar contender (nor was Equilibrium) but it is very slick and features some very interesting premises on the future. The art direction is gorgeous and the use of white light really helps to convey the sterility of this future world.
The villain is interesting and entertainingly played by the actor. I loved the showdown at the end.
Milla does such an amazing job. We have seen her do physical stuff before so that is no stretch. However, what makes her performance here so singular is the emotion she brings to the character and the fact that she is allowed to be beautiful and more feminine. All the toughness and such are there as well, but this time her character is more balanced.
I loved the concepts, music, and special effects of the film. I am glad that they looked different. I hate it when things are cookie cutter effects-wise. Thus I appreciated this film's highly stylized vision of the future and of fighting.
A fun diversion.
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