Blood and Chocolate

Blood and Chocolate‘s shallow and superficial vibe – which persists throughout its running time – ultimately prevents the movie from establishing itself as anything more than a mildly amusing time-waster, yet there’s little doubt that the whole thing never becomes quite as bad as one might’ve suspected. This is primarily due to Agnes Bruckner’s expectedly superb performance and Katja von Garnier’s intermittently stylish directorial choices; it’s subsequently clear that both women deserve far better material than this, as there’s just no denying that the movie has been geared primarily towards bubble-headed teenaged girls. Bruckner plays Vivian, a modern-day werewolf who’s torn between loyalty to her clan (led by Olivier Martinez’s Gabriel) and her romantic feelings towards a mortal (Hugh Dancy’s Aiden). Based on the novel by Annette Curtis Klause, Blood and Chocolate does possess a few better-than-expected action sequences (particularly one in which a hapless drug peddler is pursued by dozens of werewolves) and the tentative relationship between Vivian and Aiden is fairly involving (albeit in a predictable, movie-of-the-week sort of way). But the inclusion of an overtly frenetic finale leaves the proceedings with a sour aftertaste, and there’s just no getting around the feeling that the film’s positives are ultimately outweighed by its negatives.

** out of ****

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