KATJA VON GARNIER

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBB

USA/United Kingdom/Germany/Romania, 2007.  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Lakeshore Entertainment, Daniel Bobker Productions, Berrick Filmproduktion, Blood & Chocolate Productions Ltd..  Screenplay by Ehren Kruger, Christopher Landon, based on the book by Annette Curtis Klause.  Cinematography by Brendan Galvin.  Produced by Wolfgang Esenwein, Hawk Koch, Gary Lucchesi, Tom Rosenberg, Richard S. Wright.  Music by Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek.  Production Design by Kevin Phipps.  Costume Design by Ioana Albaiu, Elisabetta Beraldo.  Film Editing by Emma E. Hickox.  

Modern-day werewolf story has a lonely young woman (Agnes Bruckner) feeling the need to separate from her bloodthirsty pack in modern-day Bucharest. Her alpha dog leader (Olivier Martinez) has strict rules about hunting that her cousin (Bryan Dick) is constantly flouting, meanwhile she is being groomed for mating now that Martinez’s current wife (Katja Riemann) is getting too old for him.

Bruckner’s loyalties are really put to the test when she, a “loup garoux”, falls in love with a mere mortal (Hugh Dancy); he has come to the picturesque city to research his new graphic novel involving werewolf legends and ends up pissing off members of her family.

It’s not as exciting as the first Underworld, but the characters are enjoyable and the film moves at a steady pace that covers its sporadic lack of imagination. Shots of lovely Bucharest are enough to keep you entertained if nothing else does, and it moves towards a satisfying conclusion.