Sitting through Queen of the Damned did, in fact, make me feel like I was suffering damnation for all eternity. It is the most mediocre film I have seen since Anaconda. The hour and a half I spent sitting in that theater felt like seven hours, and the prospect of death did not seem too dreadful toward the end. The acting was an absolute mockery, the music deafening, and the plotline crude at best - Queen of the Damned was a disappointment in almost every aspect, other than its special effects.
If you have read Anne Rice's novel by the same title, you will notice that the plot did no justice to its inspiration. The book was philosophical in nature. But here, the scriptwriters decided to overlook any depth, and stuck to the raw plot.
The story features a vampire named Lestat (Stuart Townsend) who arises from a long slumber due to the interesting sounds and music of the day. Apparently, he's a maladjusted vampire, suffering from severe depression about being lonely for all of eternity. To solve this problem, he devises an evil plan: he becomes a famous rock/heavy metal star, and declares to the whole world that he is a vampire.
Rumor has it that declaring to humans that vampires exist is a no-no within the vampire circle, hence Lestat enrages all the vampires, and they decide to kill him at his concert in Death Valley (how ironic). This, of course, is what Lestat wanted, as he is sick and tired of his life, and wants to be killed. Of course, the Queen of the Damned, Akasha (Aaliyah), has other plans for the one who has enchanted her with his noisy music.
One of the sad things about this film is that it seemed more of a heavy metal concert than a movie. There were little bits of acting inserted between metal songs and sequences of special effects. They should have not hired actors all together, and instead simply let the computer and a few metal bands do the job. There was no acting to speak of. The characters try their best to convey that Lestat is unhappy with his eternal loneliness. And of course, they succeed in conveying this message within the first few minutes of the film, yet continue to shove it in our faces again and again until the end of the film. Other than that, there is a lot of screaming and biting.
As far as the music goes, it would have been great had I planned on attending a metal concert. But I had gone to a movie; it was simply loud and obnoxious. The soundtrack features bands such as Disturbed, Static X, Marilyn Manson, and Papa Roach. Hence, if you are a metal fan, the soundtrack could be a good investment.
That said, this next bit is for you Aaliyah fans. Please do not be fooled into seeing this film expecting that she is the star. Aaliyah was in the film for exactly 3.2 scenes, or less than ten minutes. It was rather sad to see about 200 Aaliyah fans leaving the theater disappointed and angry. The film's advertising committee marketed the film to look as if Aaliyah was the star actress in it while, in fact, she might as well have been an extra. I went into a theater expecting a film starting Aaliyah, and that was far from the truth. It is truly disturbing to see how the filmmakers decided to win many audiences on account of the deceased singer's name.
That is all I can say about this film. I tried really hard to like it, but did not succeed. For heavy metal fans, this film might still hold promise. For Aaliyah fans, buy a he record instead. For everyone else, you're better off watching another movie
