Ultraviolet
Directed by Kurt Wimmer
- science fiction
- action
- thriller
The story
In the late 21st century, a subculture of humans have emerged who have been modified genetically by a vampire-like disease, giving them enhanced speed, incredible stamina and acute intelligence. As they are set apart from "normal" and "healthy" humans, the world is pushed to the brink of worldwide civil war aimed at the destruction of the "diseased" population. In the middle of this crossed-fire is - an infected woman - Ultraviolet, who finds herself protecting a nine-year-old boy who has been marked for death by the human government as he is believed to be a threat to humans.
What it’s like
Cold blue-grey light and gleaming white corridors, with skyscrapers rising over washed-out streets, give this sci-fi action film a sleek, clinical surface, often sharpened by high-contrast digital grading and bursts of slow-motion. Its sound is a driving, percussive score under constant gunfire, metallic clangs and the hum of sterile facilities, with brief pockets of quiet. The mood is cool and tense, a stylised dystopian paranoia that suits a late-night watch or a loud, focused evening with the lights off. Pacing is relentless, built from fast cuts, choreographed fights and chase sequences, with small moments of tenderness between a hunted woman and a frightened child giving the adrenaline some emotional ballast. Violence is frequent and heavy: gunfights, hand-to-hand combat, stylised blood and deaths, and an overall atmosphere of menace and threatened genocide, though its gore is more glossy than grim. There is no explicit sexual content. It is for viewers who enjoy stylised action spectacle, one-woman-against-the-system narratives and bleak, high-gloss futures more than slow, contemplative drama.
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