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| Kate Beckinsale as Selene |
Yes, I’m reviewing all three movies, as that’s how I spent my day. Just as a note, before I begin, I watched the movies somewhat out of order, beginning with the prequel “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” and then proceeding through the original movie and then, finally, “Underworld: Evolution”.
“Underworld”, 2003
The original movie begins with a voice-over from the main character of the series, Selene (portrayed by Kate Beckinsale) giving the audience a small bit of information about the war between the Lycans (werewolves) and Vampires. It’s a good thing she gives us this, too, as the plot quickly becomes muddied by a lack of just about any exposition or dialogue as to exactly what the hell is going on, which is sad because there is a very rich and inviting backstory here for anyone willing to trudge through the necessary steps to uncover it. Unfortunately, the current story is nowhere near as developed and basically boils down to the werewolves and vampires fighting over a single human, Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman) who carries some sort of genetic anomaly in his blood that will help lead to the creation of a vampire/werewolf hybrid. There’s a sub-plot with a vampire named Kraven (Shane Brolly) trying to stage a coup for the leadership of the vampires. This he does by plotting with the leader of the Lycans, Lucian (Michael Sheen). There’s also another sub-plot thread of exactly how much the biggest, baddest vampire, Viktor (Bill Nighy) is tied up in the beginning of the Lycan-Vampire War. Oh, also, Selene and Michael fall in love, I think. I’m not real clear on that, as at no point do they do or say anything to make you think they actually have any feelings for each other, but I’m told that they are.
If I’m making this sound at all straightforward and easy to understand, then it probably has more to do with my having seen this movie already once before, and having watched the prequel beforehand. I assure you not of this is really spelled out all that clearly. The problem lies in the director, Len Wiseman’s, hands. He has a background in set direction and props, and that’s all quite evident. His movie looks great. Regrettably, he doesn’t seem to have any interest in giving the audience the necessary information needed to identify with his characters. Selene is full of steel-jawed grace and sex appeal, but what makes her tick? We learn that her family was murdered, either by the Lycans or *Spoiler Alert* Viktor, but it never seems to drive her one way or the other THAT much. Michael works in some capacity in a hospital, but outside of one scene in the beginning we never see that aspect of his character come into play.
Now, normally I might attribute these kinds of failings to bad acting, but that’s not really the case. Nobody gives any kind of an Oscar-caliber performance, mind you, but they do what they can with what they are given. Bill Nighy’s at his scenery-chewing best, but that works for the character he’s playing. Michael Sheen gives one of the better performances of the movie, convincingly switching between contemptible villain and a sympathetic character. Shane Brolly is wholly unconvincing as any kind of threat and toes the line of becoming boring, at times. Scott Speedman is perhaps the weakest link in the chain here, as he’s wooden in most of his dialogue delivery, and seems to have been cast only because he can look sexy and brooding all at the same time.
5/10
“Underworld: Evolution”, 2006
“Underworld: Evolution” picks up right after the end of the original, save for a brief flashback to the beginning of the 13th century, filling us in on a little more of the backstory of the origins of the Lycans and Vampires. Once again, Len Wiseman is directing and, as a result, everything looks real good. Sadly, the same problem remains in that absolutely nothing is made clear as it pertains to what the hell is going on, though to a slightly lesser degree. Characters are introduced and we’re never sure who they are, just that they may or may not have some sort of information that is necessary to drive the protagonists to the next set piece. They are MacGuffins, and there are a lot of them.
The plot boils down to the original Vampire, Markus (who was woken at the end of the original) and his search for his long-lost brother, William, the original Lycan. This isn’t a bad skeleton to build a story from, but it doesn’t seem that any thought was given to any of the details of the story. Details like why Markus doesn’t just kill Viktor back in 1202. Viktor was working under the belief that if Markus died, then all the vampires would die, so why then why couldn’t Markus just kill him then? It’s not like Viktor could fight back, he’d risk killing himself if he killed Markus (or at least he thought). Why did it take Markus the better part of 15 minutes to realize he could just lift the stone door near the end of the movie? I mean, I know it’s so he would be off-screen until the big battle at the end, but it’s things like this that annoy me. Plot contrivances can be used every once in a while and not be as noticeable but when they are this abundant they begin to stack up and are glaring. It’s as if we are watching the first draft of what could have been a decent movie, but it was never giving the required polish and shine to get it to that stage.
Once again, the performances are as good as you could hope for with as little as the actors are given to work with. Tony Curran, who portrays Markus in varying degrees of makeup, is a much better main antagonist than Shane Brolly was in the first, actually seeming like a real threat to out heroes. Kate Beckinsale delivers a performance on par with the original and even Scott Speedman steps up his game ever so slightly showing us acting that make it seem like his character is bordering on actual emotion.
Overall, while the acting is a bit of a step up in some cases (though Nighy’s arch-villain is sorely missed), the movie as a whole takes a step backwards from the original with plot holes that are at times so obvious it makes you wonder how the filmmakers missed them.
4/10
“Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”, 2009
“Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” is a prequel to the original movie, which takes place before the beginning of the Vampire-Lycan War and shows us it’s origins, which were only glimpsed in the original. Taking over the directing reins from Len Wiseman this round is Patrick Tatopoulos, a former effects and production design man. Unlike his predecessor, Tatopoulos is more inclined to give us a glimpse of what make his characters tick and he’s helped along greatly in this by the returning Bill Nighy (Viktor) and Michael Sheen (Lucian).
The plot revolves around the love affair between Lucian and Viktor’s daughter, Sonja (Rhona Mitra). Unfortunately, Lucian is a Lycan (the first to be able to revert to human form we’re told) and Sonja is a Vampire, and of course this is love affair is forbidden. In the film, the this new breed of Lycans are slaves to the Vampires, serving as their daytime protectors, and everything seems fine in that regard until Lucian rips off his chains in order to help save his love and some human nobles from a pack of wild Lycans. Viktor has Lucian imprisoned for this betrayal of trust and things spin off from there. Lucian stages a Spartacus-esque uprising of the Lycans, Viktor finds out about his daughter’s tryst with Lucian and so on and so forth leading to a huge battle between the Lycans and the Vampires at the end.
The story is predictable, that I won’t deny, but what makes this entry into the series stand above the previous two is the clarity of why characters are doing and saying what they are doing and saying. You know their motivations and where they stem from. Nighy and Sheen deliver performances that are excellent and carry the movie throughout upon their more than capable shoulders. Rhona Mitra makes you understand what would draw Lucian to her Sonja. She is strong-willed and fiery, yet reserved and caring when she needs to be.
The sets and effects are spot-on, which isn’t really all that surprising for the series. The battles between the Lycans and Vampires are much more visceral, though, due in no small part to the absence of firearms which were a standby in the series until now (indeed, the warring factions even had specialized bullets in the previous entries).
In all, if I were to ever suggest one part of the trilogy to someone, it would likely be this one. Yes, the story is predictable and we’ve seen it all before, but the acting is stellar and the plot is clear.
6.5/10
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