This movie is interesting because of a couple of reasons. First of all because it marks director's Neil Jordan return to vampire movies and secondly because it's taking a more grounded approach to the genre.
So not tons of blood sucking and other vampire action in this movie. Just a movie about 2 well written and developed characters, who just happen to be vampires. Becauses of its approach, this movie manages to avoid most stereotypes and generic genre movie elements, which makes this movie an original one to watch.
As long as you know what to expect, this is a pretty good movie to watch. It's really not the sort of movie that's just for everyone and perhaps it's also true that you need to be in the right mood for it but those who are able to appreciate a more slowly told and detailed kind of movie should be able to appreciate this one and may even fall in love with it.
The approach is a great strength of the movie. It takes itself very seriously, which may sound boring and dry to some but it actually makes things very lively to watch. It helps to bring the characters come to live, even though they are dead ones and it gets you more involved with its story. The 'reaslistic' approach also provides the movie with plenty of tension and also helps to make it a perfectly mysterious and unpredictable one. It's not a movie that ever progresses and develops in the way that you would expect it to, which is also the main reason why it's an, almost consistently, great and intriguing one to watch.
It's also a great looking movie, which should come as no surprise to you, seeing how this is a Neil Jordan directed movie. It has a sort of modern Gothic look, which of course is perfect for a movie involving vampires. But it really puts its emphasis on the word 'modern' though. Gothic normally means that the movie has a sort of old fashioned look and feel to it but not this one. It does a great job combining a more classic Gothic type of atmosphere with some more modern movie aspects, more suitable for movies that are set in this current day and age.
But no, I'm not completely blinded by this movie. I can still see plenty of weaknesses and other problems with it. First of all, it has a great written story but there is only so much happening in it though. Sure, it's all good and intriguing and it also has plenty of interesting layers to it but the movie is still lacking a bit of substance at times and it could and should have gone further with some of its story lines at times. It does in fact lets the movie come across as a bit of an underdeveloped at times, story-wise. It's greatly told all but I sincerely doubt that I'm going to remember this movie in 2 months from now.
It nevertheless still remains a perfectly watchable movie, as long as you're not expecting another "Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles" or a more typical and generic vampire movie. It's a slow movie for sure but its images, acting, characters and storytelling ensures that it's a great and intriguing one on its own right.
7/10
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