The Plot – While humans fester away in this mortal coil, a war has been raging for centuries between vampires and lycans. Beneath the streets, in the subway tunnels, hidden in the alleyways, an elite vampire “Death Dealer” named Selene leads the hunt for lycan rebels whose number has dwindled in the 600 years since their leader Lucian was put down.

On a routine hunt the lycan clan makes the blood feud public to humans – a measure always avoided by both species. Not only do the lycans change their battle tactics, but they are armed with better weaponry the likes of which seem too sophisticated for their kind. During this battle Selene discovers the lycans have a particular interest in a human named Michael. Somehow this human is unknowingly aligned with the lycan clan, but neither he nor Selene know why.

Selene will take this new information to Kraven the current leader of the vampire clan. He’s a lover not a fighter, but under the veneer lies an ambitious immortal. He dismisses Selene’s worries about the lycans mounting a new offensive and is less than concerned about some human. Suspicious of Kraven’s motives, Selene sets out on her own and soon everything she believes comes into question.

Who will Selene trust? Kraven the power-hungry vampire that replaced Selene’s sire Viktor? Should she awaken Viktor from his 200 year slumber? Can she trust the lycans? And what of Michael, the only human Selene has ever come in direct contact with?

When the time comes which side will she choose?

The Review – It seems every time someone gets a hold of a vampire/werewolf legend they tailor it to their liking. That’s fine, artistic license and all, but it leaves you the viewer with the decision to wipe everything you assumed to know about these immortals and start fresh. If you find yourself caught up in questions like “How come these vampires can use mirrors?” or “Why does the sun never seem to come out?” or “Why doesn’t Selene ever run out of bullets?” then you’ll be disappointed before you’re halfway through the movie.

Overall I thought the film was decent. The storyline was interesting enough and while the movie felt a little long it seemed to clip at a decent pace. Personally, any movie that takes place in the dark for 99% of the performance is a hard movie for me to watch. [if you’re curious why clicky clicky] Anyway, given the dark blue hue, the cinematography set the tone and I thought the action scenes although brief weren’t too bad. Despite the trailers this movie is more about gunplay than kung-fu fighting so anticipate lots of collateral damage without the bullet-time finesse.

My biggest complaint probably wasn’t addressed for brevity’s sake. I would have liked a little more detail on the distinctions between vampires and lycans. It seemed the lycans were more powerful as a group than the vampires, but then certain vampires were making lots of Puppy Chow towards the latter half of the film. While you can piece together the history as the film progresses I was curious about the practical purposes behind the “Awakening”.

Grade: B- (I got what I paid for)