Blood The Last Vampire: Demon on Campus

When it comes to Japanese animation I'm no expert, but I'd still argue that I've seen more Miyazaki than the average American. Therefore, it shouldn't be surprising that, while I had heard of Blood: The Last Vampire, a critically acclaimed anime movie from 2000, I had, up until recently, not seen it. Seeing a poster for the live-action Blood redo last year put the original anime film further on my radar, but it didn't quite push me over the edge to watching the movie. No, it wasn't until a few days ago that, for no real reason other than the fact that it was streaming, I decided to give Blood a chance. Overall, I can't say that I was disappointed.

The major thing that you need to know about Blood is that it's only about 45 minutes long. Thus it is not an overly complex, layered, moody drama. The characters are incredibly basic and, to be honest, a little flat. That's OK though, because with its moody visual style and solid pacing Blood succeeds at being a tight, entertaining piece of animation.

Blood opens with a stylish, comic book-y kill on a moving subway. The killer is a gal named Saya, and, while her origin is never explicitly explained in the movie, it is implied that she is the last vampire. After the subway fight Saya meets up with her employers, two mysterious men in suits, and it is here that we are given the set-up for the next 30-some minutes. It seems that Saya's speciality is demon hunting, and that her skills are in demand at a school located in Tokyo's Yokota Air Base.

This plot device works for a number of reason. First of all, as the Yokota Air Base is an American military base, it gives the filmmakers an excuse to record about half of the film's dialogue in English. Yes, while portions of Blood are in Japanese and subtitled, a good majority of the movie is in English. I did a quick bit of Internet research on this and apparently this was done to speed up the process of selling the film to American audiences. While I was initially distracted by Blood's bilingual nature, I grew used to it pretty quickly and overall having the two languages worked more than I would have thought that it would.

Blood's setting also works to create a number of interesting visuals in which Saya's look, that of a young Japanese school girl, is contrasted by her stoic personality and violent actions. Similarly I was impressed by a sequence in which two demons disguised as students shed their innocent looking disguises and transform into monsters. What impressed me about this was how subtle the transformations were. When Saya initially slays one of the demons there is a brief moment in which the viewer is unsure of whether she has struck down a young student or a monstrous creature. It isn't until we see a gnarled, inhuman hand amongst the blood splatter that we fully realise the true identity of the student.

I would like to point out that all of this stuff could have looked really bad if it wasn't for the stark, gritty style in which Blood is animated. Staying away from the cliche cotton candy colored haircuts and outrageous fashions of some anime, Blood's style is realistic and bleak. There is a distinctive color scheme to Blood's world, and that color scheme consists blacks, browns, greys, and other muted hues. The movie also makes unexpectedly good use of CG animation to add an impressive depth to the movie. There is a school dance scene early on, in particular, that I felt I could walk right into if I had wanted to.

Blood isn't going to blow your mind with intricate storytelling, but it is 45 minutes worth of eye candy with a solid enough plot to keep you engaged the whole time. I can recommend it heartily for what it is. Enjoy!

Underworld: Pretty But Undercooked

When Underworld 3 hit theaters a little over a year ago I made a mental note to go back and watch the previous two movies in the Underworld series. Months later and I have finally just finished watched the first Underworld movie. Let me explain my viewing procrastination- it is not so much that I was dreading watching Underworld, so much that it entirely slipped my mind. After viewing the movie, funnily enough, that about sums up my opinion on the overall show- I cannot actively dislike it, as it was mildly enjoyable, but I can't get excited about it either.

The events of Underworld are set up unceremoniously with a quick voice over at the beginning. Basically vampires and werewolves (aka Lycans) don't like each other and they have been fighting for a very long time. Yeah there's a little more to the plot than that, but really that's about all the set-up you need to know. About two hours later from this initial plot exposition, we are given another abrupt voiceover that attempts to tie up the plot quickly. Unfortunately, these two instances are great examples of the lack of grace and subtlety with which plot advancement is treated in the land of Underworld. After this speedy intro is delivered to us with appropriate angst by protagonist Selene (Kate Beckinsale) we dive underground for a shootout in a subway station. With virtually no foundation as to who the shooters are, I felt totally emotionally disconnected from the action. Sure, it looks relatively pretty, but even the visuals here weren't exceptionally novel. The look in many parts of the movie, and especially in this subway scene, is particularly reminiscent of The Matrix. This wouldn't be a bad thing (hey, who doesn't like The Matrix?), but, first off, everything Underworld tries to do like The Matrix is something Matrix did better, and, secondly, when Underworld calms down on the leather trench coats and shades it takes on a moody gothic style, which I found much more appropriate for the film.

One visual that worked for me, in particular, was the emaciated, corpse-like vampire elder Viktor (played by Bill Nighy). Seeing Viktor, pale and ghastly, sitting in an elaborate, spacious, and elegant room was a wonderful contrast, and my favorite moment of the movie.

Unfortunately, we can't all be Viktors, and not all of Underworld's visuals can match the strength of this image. While I understand that this movie is from 2003, I just couldn't get behind the computer-generated werewolves. Yeah, I know that's how it was done in '03, but there were moments of CG werewolves going wild that made me cringe. Their transformations were decent, but way too quick, and would have benefited from more extended periods of bone-crunching. The most notable werewolf transformation sequence occurs in the back of the police car. The beginning of this transformation is excellent, as the soon to be werewolf writhes in the claustrophobic, moving space. Unfortunately, as soon as the character is about to transform and attack the two police officers, the movie cuts away to brooding Selene. I can understand where another film might do such a thing to create suspense, but, come on, you're Underworld, no one is watching you for an expertly executed exercise in suspense- we just want to see pretty images.

When Underworld succeeds is when it delivers on the pretty images. When it failed for me was when it tried to become more than just a slide show of shiny things. Underworld completely overestimates the appeal of its characters and storyline. Plot points are revealed in utter seriousness, without hints of irony or humor. This would be forgivable if I was watching a gripping drama with complex characters, but I'm not. Underworld seems to forget that in order to care about these people we need to know who they are beyond the absolute basics, and that these characters need to be more than the most basic character types.

Take our heroine Selene as an example. She is a female vampire warrior with a steely gaze, a rebellious streak, a strong sense of honor, and a (yawn) tragic past. While she's not unlikeable, she's not a particularly fascinating, or even memorable, character. The werewolf (or Lycan, I should say), side of the film is even more glossed over. While we at least get glimpses of the vampire society (another part of the movie that I thought worked), we get virtually no sense of the way the Lycans live. I understand that the vampires were the main parts of the movie, but I think more Lycan development would have made the story more compelling.

That said, Underworld is still not a bad way to kill two hours. It's fun to look at, and, while the mediocre plot takes itself way too seriously there are a fair amount of stretches in the movie where there's not a lot of talking.

I plan on watching and writing about the next two Underworld movies as the summer progresses. Stay tuned.