| ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. | |
| PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. | |
| OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. | |
| NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Parents need to know that this movie includes repeated (and repetitive) scenes of video game-like violence, with shooting, cars and motorcycles racing, falling, and martial artsy kicking. Weapons range from futuristic-zappy to old-fashioned. (For the most part, these conflicts don't result in bloody injuries, just "action.") The genetically engineered Violet protects a young boy, the target of multiple assailants. Violet wears very tight outfits; in an early scene, she's instructed to "strip" before entering a security scanner, revealing a shadowy version of her nude backside as she walks away from the camera. Language includes a couple of s-words, slang for genitals, "hell," and "damn."
Violet (Milla Jovovich) is a genetically engineered terrorist-assassin (called a "hemophage"). Her condition was instigated by a virus, which led to a miscarriage, so she's part angry and part sad. Violet now sports vampire fangs and skintight outfits, with shifting hair color. Her devotion to her boss, Nerva (Sebastien Andrieu), and cause is cut short when she learns that her latest mission involves the destruction of a child carried around in a briefcase. The child's name, Six (Cameron Bright), quite gives away his identity, at least in relation to the man who claims to be his "father" -- evil biochemical genius and Vice Cardinal Daxus (Nick Chinlund). Violet is damaged repeatedly, but has access to a friendly doctor, Garth (William Fichtner), who puts her together again more than once, and pledges his affection to her (even though she's more interested in the child, presumably out of maternal instincts). Still, Violet maintains her hard exterior, quick to take out all opponents and insist the boy obey her angry orders.
According to Violet (Milla Jovovich), she lives in a future "you may not understand." But how could you? ULTRAVIOLET is incoherent even by the silly standards of other video game-based movies. Shot with HD cameras, the film looks bizarre, as if the entire surface has been scrubbed to resemble the soft filters and Vaselined lenses of old. It's an odd effect for the SF/action genre, but familiar to anyone who remembers Jovovich's Feria hair color commercials.
While Jovovich is an appealing model-turned-movie star, she's adrift here. By the last 15 minutes, it appears that whoever edited just gave up completely, and strung together a series of unrelated shots as an unresolved, hard-to-follow "finale."
Families can talk about the ethical or medical problems of cloning and genetic engineering. How are Violet's sense of identity and loyalty to her "community" premised on survival rather than trust? How does the film explain Violet's yearning for a family?
| Studio: | Screen Gems |
| Director: | Kurt Wimmer |
| Cast: | Cameron Bright, Milla Jovovich, Nick Chinlund |
| Genre: | Action/Adventure |
| Run time: | 88 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | March 3, 2006 |
| DVD release date: | June 27, 2006 |
| MPAA rating: | PG-13 |
| MPAA explanation: | for sequences of violent action throughout, partial nudity and language. |