Bloodrayne...The Movie (1 Viewer)

[James@R]

I couldn't even make it to the end. My God, why must this happen to Sallah?!

And Boll is talking about making this a three and a half hour movie. I predict an Oscar sweep that will eclipse the LOTR trilogy!

 

[Will_B]

Hm, well I saw this and it wasn't the crapfest I expected. The story was the standard three step "1) girl's parent(s) are killed by a vampire, 2) she's now part vampire for one reason or another, 3) and now she's going after that vampire" plot that Underworld used. Like Blade, she's half vampire half human. Like some of Highlander's sequels, the film is one of those films that were filmed someplace cheap but suitably cobblestoned to create an ancient atmosphere. Points for the good locations.

The only flaws that made this film less than any of those other films was that the cast obviously had no voice lessons or rehearsals. Anna Lucia's (Lost) attempt at a British (?) accent was the worst. Most just used American accents and omitted conjugations to create a slightly different impression than modern day. There were also some gaps in the storytelling that could have been explained better, and they could have made it more dramatic if they rearranged some of the scenes.

They also didn't really deliver the concept that Bloodrayne was a gifted fighter. In most films where there is a superhero of sorts, they usually make it clear that that person is a gifted fighter. Not here. She gets by, barely. Perhaps the actress couldn't deliver the fight scenes that would have made that possible, I don't know. But it did weaken the story.

The only element of the film that said to me that they'd given up any hope of delivering a solid film was at the end of the unrated version, just before you expect the story to fade to black, they included a ridiculous montage of all the bad special effects moments that were only seen in glimpses earlier in the film. This montage appeared to be a demo reel for the special effects company involved in the production of the film, and was totally out of place. Perhaps that is not in the rated version.

Also the casting of that fat, unengaged actor who was in Reservoir Dogs was a bad choice. But it could have been worse -- Michael Ironside could have been available. But pretty much the same ilk of lumbering character actor.

I'd compare Bloodrayne to Underworld 2 and Van Helsing, only without CGI.

*And sorry, Michael Ironside. You were good in Total Recall.