Because filmmaker Kurt Wimmer displayed so much intelligence and potential with his sci-fi gem Equilibrium, it's very disappointing to see Ultraviolet, his follow-up actioner, turn out to be such a shallow venture. 

Ultraviolet takes viewers into the future again -- to a time after the government found a near-dormant virus which officials hoped to exploit in order to create an army of super-soldiers. Instead, they ended up making the virus more contagious than before, turning those infected into extra-fast, extra-smart beings referred to as "hemophages" (the downside, of course, being a slow and arduous death). Violet (Milla Jovovich) is one such person, a hemophage taking part in a resistance whose goal is to prevent diabolical human scientists from devising a way to wipe them out of existence.

Violet's latest assignment involves stealing what is said to be the ultimate weapon in the humans' "blood war." In the process, she discovers that the package is really a boy (Cameron Bright) whose blood may or may not spell doom for the hemophages. In any case, the whole mess results in Violet landing square in the middle of the final showdown between her kind and the humans, finding herself cutting ties with her former allies and trying to stay one step ahead of evil bureaucrat Daxus (Nick Chinlund) in order to get to the bottom of what the battle for the child is all about.

Ultraviolet's opening credits are laid out against the backdrop of comic books, inspired by Japanese anime and obviously  intent on positioning the sexy and lethal Violet as a future action heroine. But if Ultraviolet is meant to be designed like a live-action anime, then all it may do is inspire Hollywood not to try this anymore. Even the goofiest action movie has some footing in reality, allowing the viewers to identify a little with the characters without compromising the fun of seeing them engage in outrageous set pieces.

Ultraviolet is too far out there. It resembles a comic book come to life too much to evoke any sympathy concerning what happens or to have fun even on a "mindless action movie" level. The film's slick, sanitized look really stresses the "Yeah, right..." factor, requiring not so much a suspension of disbelief but its total obliteration.

It doesn't help that Wimmer hides behind a wall of style when his well of ideas starts to run dry by using the crutch of making the film and the grand action sequences that punctuate it look as cool as he can. Wimmer spends most of the time in Ultraviolet coming up with some nifty ideas, then not following through on them, choosing instead to throw in another action sequence edited by Edward Scissorhands.

Sure, the virus that created the hemophages is apparently deadly enough to warrant society's collective desire to destroy it, but what does it really do? The hemophages themselves are referred to as vampires and even have pointy fangs to prove it, but why isn't there other evidence to back up their bloodsucking label? I'd like to think that a future in which "flat-space" technology (through which guns, ammo, and other essentials can be stored in a handy, trans-dimensional junk drawer) and the ability to ride a motorcycle across the side of a skyscraper exist would be a lot more interesting than Ultraviolet makes it look.

Still, if there's one task Wimmer excels at, it's in making Milla Jovovich look every bit the gorgeous fighting machine he specifically wrote her to be. Whether she's engaging in "gunkata" (the famous combination of martial arts and gunfighting Wimmer devised for Equilibrium, his  1984/Matrix hybrid) or taking advantage of the inexplicable technology that allows her to change the color of her hair and clothing like a Victoria's Secret chameleon, Jovovich has no problem convincing us of the heroine's incredible power. Too bad she's pitted against such a boring villain and saddled in a thin relationship with a kid sidekick. 

Ultraviolet may be good for a few brainless thrills, but in the end, it amounts to little more than a glossy exterior covering the unfinished groundwork for a sci-fi/actioner that should have been a lot cooler than it turned out to be.

MY RATING: ** (out of ****)

(Released by Screen Gems and rated "PG-13" for sequences of violent action throughout, partial nudity and language.)