Ultraviolet = Ultra-Vapid

—1. Overview
—2. Cast and Crew
—3. Photo Pages
—4. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—5. Posters (Milla Jovovich)
—6. Production Notes (pdf)
—7. Spiritual Connections
—8. Presentation Downloads

“My name is Violet, and I was born into a world you may not understand…�

This is the opening line of Director Kurt Wimmer’s latest film, and a propos because the film makes little sense, if any. Milla Jovavich spends the majority of her screen time fleeing from garish badguys, but the unseen enemies she successfully manages to evade are Mr. Plot and Dr. Good-Story.

Wimmer proved he could direct quality science fiction with his 2002 release Equilibrium. It’s unfortunate that he’s gone to such great lengths to prove that wrong with Ultraviolet, the story of… oh, I’m sorry – did I say there was a story? My bad. This film will undoubtedly be dubbed "this year’s Catwoman" and a great candidate for the Razzies. Seriously, this Milla Jovavich vehicle makes Resident Evil: Apocalypse look like Schindler’s List. As for the ham-handed religious metaphor sprinkled throughout the film, one will be too busy checking one's watch to notice, wondering just how long ninety minutes can be.

Don’t take me for a film snob here; I own Resident Evil. I own Scooby-Doo, for pity's sake. I enjoy a cheesy action flick, and thoroughly enjoyed Wimmer’s previous film. In Equilibrium, viewers were treated to a dystopian future with a seeming merger of church and state, ruled with an iron fist by a hypocritical, totalitarian tyrant. A lone, trained assassin became determined to save the oppressed peoples with a unique firearm/martial arts combo. Combined with compelling acting from Christian Bale, Sean Bean, and others, religious parallel abounded in the film with Christ-like imagery, and a narrative journey that mirrored the path of Paul the Apostle. Now comes Ultraviolet… and it seems Wimmer simply grabbed Milla Jovavich, a copy of his Equilibrium script, and some Sharpie pens, hacking up the same story by changing names and throwing in vampires. This material is such a retread, you can see the tire marks.

“Violet� (Jovavich) is an infected “hemophage� with chameleon-like powers, changing the color of her hair and clothing at will (with absolutely no purpose) throughout the film. One wonders why Wimmer and the marketing division who produced the trailer have sought to underplay the fact that the “hemophages� are vampires. (Maybe because the teeth prosthetics are so pathetic?) Violet steals an important “package,� which turns out to be a young boy who holds the key to either a hemophage cure, or the end of the world. The Cardinal of the evil “Archministry� wants the boy back, the vampires want him killed, and hence Violet spends the requisite ninety minutes protecting the boy against a CGI backdrop that looks like the worst, rejected green-screen inserts from Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Honestly, cut scenes in most video games look more life-like than this movie, whether it's a burning building or Milla on her motorcycle. Tron had better effects. To make matters worse, Wimmer uses such a blurry, soft focus that at times Jovavich has no nose or facial features, just a gooey potato-head blob of a face with eyes, nose-holes and lips. People don’t have seem to have skin, but rather Krispy-Kreme glaze. It fails on all levels.

What’s even more appalling are the opening credits, which appear quite creatively on a succession of pretend comic covers for “Ultraviolet,� announcing Wimmer’s apparent perception that – although the character was created for the silver screen – he’s making a self-styled “comic book movie.� Although the sequence is the only imaginative one in the film, the subsequent cinematic experience is so banal that it makes this claim an insult to the comics medium and its readers.

Violet storms the Archministry’s expansive headquarters, which is conveniently laid out like a gigantic cross. Clad in pure white, she battles her way to righteous victory until she finds both gloved hands pierced in battle. Bleeding out for the sake of the world, her costume turns deep crimson, and she steps forward ready to lay down her life to save the boy and the infected planet. The imagery is obvious, but the whole film has made viewers roll their eyes so many times the spiritual theme evokes only laughter or groans. Again, Wimmer made this point already, and with panache, in Equilibrium. Rent his previous film to save yourself money and spare yourself a needless headache. Ultraviolet is Wimmer's microwave leftovers.

As we see Violet use her amazing belt device in the film, which apparently enables her to defy both gravity and decent visual effects, I felt like I was watching the movie's director and not Milla Jovavich. I sure hope he finds his footing again.