Half-Vamp on the Loose!
Main Cast: Kristanna Loken, Michelle Rodriguez, Ben Kingsley, Matt Davis
Director: Uwe Boll
Plot Summary: Half-human, half-vampire, Rayne escapes the traveling gypsy camp where she had been a captured freak and searches for her vampire father in order to revenge her murdered mother.
When I saw who the director of Bloodrayne was I sat back with a pleased smile. I had a feeling I knew what was going to happen, and for the most part I was right. This is not a good movie (let alone great), but it is a fair one. The presence of experienced actors does indeed help, or at least elevates the hackneyed plot and cardboard characters above total drek. Most of the time.
The action centers on Rayne (Loken), half-human and half-vampire. She’s all hot, though, and that, along with the beautiful Michelle Rodriguez, had at least something for me to enjoy watching on screen. I can also include the locations: the sets, and the natural beauty of the woods, mountains, and rivers, were also very pleasantly filmed. You’ll notice I avoid talking about plot, characters, and themes. All of those were horribly cliché or simply bad. And the lesser actors were either stiff or overacted: something I’ve noticed before in the costumed fantasy genre. I think some actors feel that these movies are silly (which most of them are) and compensate by exaggeration, perhaps hoping to distance themselves from the film by reminding the audience that they are just kidding.
Back to the paper-thin plot. Rayne meets up with a secret organization that hunts vampires. At first she is met with suspicion, of course, but she manages to gain their trust. She levels up (excuse me, trains up) before setting off to challenge the big boss (sorry, her father vampire, played by the distinguished Ben Kingsley). I almost have to mention the video game terms because, well, this is based off of one. Sadly I have not played the game, but I wonder if it is better than this movie. I have a sneaking suspicion that it might be.
Can I recommend this movie? Not really. There are better movies out there for you to see, within and without the genre. While I did think the main actor did a pretty good job, she could not save this movie from horrible clichés and bad directing. It’s the best of the Boll offerings, though. I suppose that’s something!
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