Underworld (2003)

Originally Written

Tuesday, January 3, 2006

Vampire and werewolf films have been pushed to the brink of insanity over the past few decades to the point that quality and any ounce of uniqueness is quite non-existent. Underworld changes all that and brings new life to a dying breed of horror villains, taking the two beasts and combining them into one film with a well thought out storyline and a different look at the historic characters. It's unfortunate Underworld never received the mass publicity it was most notably due, with a lack luster trailer the film really failed to bring in a blockbuster audience but still managed to quickly become a cult hit among a minority of fans. After familiarizing myself with some of Kate Beckinsale's previous work, and becoming a pretty big fan, I ran out and rented this new edition to the annals of vampire film history, I was happily surprised to discover a film very full of promise.

Underworld stars the talented and beautiful Kate Beckinsale, who at first glance might appear strangely cast for the role of an action heroine. Based on her previous roles the British beauty doesn't appear to be the Tomb Raider / Dark Angel type, but in the end she pulls off the role quite flawlessly. Taking place in present day England is an ancient war between the Vampires and the Lycans (Werewolves), like most feuds the original cause for the war is not known to many, but it's a hatred thats been passed down for generations with one mission; extermination of the other race.

Selene (Kate Beckinsale) discovers that the Lycans are tailing a human, Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman), and pursues investing this mysterious activity which leads to an unraveling of loose threads in a history of lies. She begins to have suspensions about Kraven the current Vampire leader, believing him to be in league with the supposedly deceased Lycan leader Lucian whom Kraven had "killed" hundreds of years earlier. In her troubled time she turns to the only one she can trust by awaking Vikor, one of the most powerful Vampire leaders. Selene must face the consequences of awaking Vikor a decade before his scheduled time, discover the truth behind the history of the war, and learn the secret of Michael Corvin the man she has fallen in love with.

Visually, Underworld is a stunning film for any fan of vampires and werewolves. Although the locations in the film are restricted to the sewers, and the vampire mansion, which can get a little old after a while, it's the special effects that really make this film stand out. The transformations of the Lycans, and the makeup transformation of Vikor from a dead corpse, are great examples, combined with Matrix style fight sequences and an epic hand to hand battle at the end make Underworld a worthy flick for the action fan. But what really impressed me the most is the interesting storyline, some well developed twists and turns, and some decent acting.

Acting wise, Kate Beckinsale gives one of best performances in the film, followed by Bill Nighy (Vikor) who played his role brilliantly and really made the character come alive, and Michael Sheen (Beckinsale's former boyfriend) is quite good as well. As for the lead actor, newcomer Scott Speedman, I found him to be really boring and stale. On the opposite side, one of the film's villains, Kraven (Shane Brolly) seemed to be more of an annoyance as he spends the entire film complaining about Selene falling for Michael.

Overall, Underworld stands out as a worthy edition to it's niche genre even with the obstacles it faced due to being filmed on a very tight budget. First time director Len Wiseman was quite lucky to eventually get his idea picked up which jump started his directing career and introduced him to the lovely Kate Beckinsale whom he ends up marrying in early 2004. In the end, Underworld is a very unique and entertaining film, full of action and suspense, and for the most part is very well written, directed and acted. Let’s hope that the sequel will be even better and expand upon the positives of the original, not fall flat on its face.

8/10