Underworld Review(spoilers)

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-09-19 01:50am

Well, I just got back from seeing an advanced screening and I can say that it was not that great. It had its moments but overall it was fairly mediocre. Which was unfortunate.

The Plot: Vampires and Lycans(werewolfs) have been in a war for centuries. About 600 years ago the Vampires basically crushed the Lycans and only spattered groups of Lycans remain. Currently, the Lycans seem to be interested in one human, Michael Corvin(Scott Speedman), and Selene, played by the ever so beautiful Kate Beckinsale notices this. She learns that the Lycans are building an army and tries to warn the leader of the vampire coven. However, she is not believed and so goes to find the human that the Lycans are looking for. Hijinks ensue and it is determined that the vampires actually started the war, and that it is a racially motivated war.

Basically the Lycans were slaves who rebelled against their masters after Lucian, the head Lycan wed a vampire "princess" and would have given birth to a mixed blood, which is considered an abomination.

Lucian is actually in league with Kraven, who promised peace if he gets to rule the Vampire Nation. Some double crosses and the truth comes out. Michael is wanted because he is descended from the man that originally carried a trait which led to vampirism and lycanthrophy. What this means is that Michael's blood is able to bond vampire and lycan blood to form a new virus that endows the person with the strengths of both.

Obviously Michael gets bitten by both a Lycan and a vampire, and so becomes a mixed breed. The leader of the vampires, Viktor wants to kill him, but Selene likes Michael, so offs Viktor, who she learns massacred her whole family.

It ends with the remaining Lycans backing letting them go, with the last shot of Lycan blood draining into the mouth of another elder vampire, one that also is a descendant of the Corvin blood line.

The Bad: The script was rather mediocre. Some of the acting sucked. Especially Kraven's. Viktor's had the oddest facial gestures and sounds that cause a lot of undesired humor. There also seemed to be weird technical problems that may have just been the print, because some of the voices seemed really odd, even in the same scene for the same person where they sometimes got really low.

Oh and the what looks to be romantic subplot between Selene and Michael sucked.

The Good: Interesting idea. I would have liked it better if they had focused more on the ideologies involved if they weren't going to go with a lot of action. On the other hand, the action wasn't all that impressive given stuff like Blade. Kate Beckinsale in tight leather with a sexy accent.

Overall: A fairly mediocre movie that had a lot of potential. It could have been great, but ended up just having some decent moments.

I would give it about a C+ or so. Though I saw it for free so I really can't complain.

But damn it, it had Kate Beckinsale in leather, so it wasn't a total loss.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-09-19 02:21am

Note: Despite what it might say other places, this isn't a romance, though the tension is there I guess. And it isn't Romeo and Juliet with Vampires and Werewolves.

I question the White Wolf law suit if it's supposed to be a ripoff of Love of Monsters, which seems like it's supposed to be the Romeo and Juliet story.

Post by **fgalkin** » 2003-09-20 12:13am

I've seen it, too. And enjoyed it. Not too big on the plot, but the action was pretty decent (and not really a Matrix rip-off, which I feared it would be). I was going to go on describing the plot, but neoolong has done it for me.

Anyways, here's the good and the bad of the movie:

The Good:1) Kate Beckinsale. She's very good. 2) The action was pretty decent: not really breath-taking, but not bad, either. 3) The Lycans: kickass-looking, and capable of ripping the vampires apart. 4) Viktor: I thought he was really cool. And his facial gestures and sounds, which neoolong mentioned weren't that bad (they looked wierd, but no one in the audience laughed, btw). 5) The train from the subway scene: it is actually a Russian subway train. I've rode countless numbers of said trains in ST. Petersburg.

The Bad:1) Kraven: bad acting + annoying as fuck. 2) The vampire's abilities: what are they: in one scene, they survive a fall from a 5-6 story buiding, in the other they seem to be of human strength and endurance. Erika (?) was able to jump to the ceiling, yet no one else has demonstrated such abilities. 3) Light-containing bullets. I shit you not, they exist.

4) Viktor's death: such a cool character deserved a better way to go.

Overall:It was a pretty decent movie. I've seen it at the Empire 25 theaters at 42d Street in NYC, where the sound system is pretty good. As such, I've got a chance to enjoy the special effects. So, here's my descision:

Not a movie that will astound you, but if you want to turn off your brain and enjoy the action, this is definitely the movie you need. My grade 3 1/2 (out of 5)

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

SylasGaunt · Post by **SylasGaunt** » 2003-09-20 01:44am

The Lycan rounds as I recall didn't actually contain light but rather a substance which emitted UV.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-09-20 02:55am

fgalkin wrote:And his facial gestures and sounds, which neoolong mentioned weren't that bad (they looked wierd, but no one in the audience laughed, btw). 5) The train from the subway scene: it is actually a Russian subway train. I've rode countless numbers of said trains in ST. Petersburg.

The audience at my showing were laughing pretty hard.

The Bad:1) Kraven: bad acting + annoying as fuck. 2) The vampire's abilities: what are they: in one scene, they survive a fall from a 5-6 story buiding, in the other they seem to be of human strength and endurance. Erika (?) was able to jump to the ceiling, yet no one else has demonstrated such abilities.

Michael showed the ability as well by sticking to the wall.

3) Light-containing bullets. I shit you not, they exist. 4) Viktor's death: such a cool character deserved a better way to go.

I would think that simply wearing bulletproof vests would be able to work against such rounds considering that they seem to have to shatter to work.

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2003-09-20 03:35am

I like how TV Guide did the poster comparison to "Birds of Prey"

http://www.midwestcomics.com/Birds_of_Prey_Poster_1.jpg

Embracer Of Darkness · Post by **Embracer Of Darkness** » 2003-09-20 07:38am

I went to see this movie last night, and I thought it was pretty damn good.

What I liked:
- Kate Bekinsale was great, and fantastic eye candy.
- There wasn't too much action, and it wasn't over the top.
- The plot actually had a couple of major twists.
- The special effects, in my opinion, were brilliant.

What I didn't like:
- Viktor's death. He did deserve a cooler death.
- The Vampires were obviously superior to the Lycans, I think there should've been some equality to make the battle scenes more exciting. I thought the Vampires owned the Lycans far too easily.
- The scene with Michael in the back of the police car, just awful.

Personally, I'd give this movie a 4/5. I enjoyed it, and will be buying it on DVD.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-09-20 12:43pm

You thought the vampires were superior to the Lycans?

It seemed to me that when the vampires fought the actual werewolves, that the vampires got owned.

The times when it was Lycans in human form, they didn't seem to do that badly either.

Post by **fgalkin** » 2003-09-20 01:44pm

neoolong wrote:You thought the vampires were superior to the Lycans?

It seemed to me that when the vampires fought the actual werewolves, that the vampires got owned.

The times when it was Lycans in human form, they didn't seem to do that badly either.

I loved the ease with which Viktor owned that Lycan. He's one of the coolest characters in the film, IMO.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2003-09-20 02:09pm

Lord Poe wrote:I like how TV Guide did the poster comparison to "Birds of Prey"

http://www.midwestcomics.com/Birds_of_Prey_Poster_1.jpg

The article that went with it was funny too.

Rochell D. Thomas of [i]TV Guide[/i] wrote: We're not saying they copied Birds. (Our lawyers won't let us.) We're just saying these posters are mighty similar. That's all.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-09-20 03:00pm

fgalkin wrote:
neoolong wrote:You thought the vampires were superior to the Lycans?

It seemed to me that when the vampires fought the actual werewolves, that the vampires got owned.

The times when it was Lycans in human form, they didn't seem to do that badly either.
I loved the ease with which Viktor owned that Lycan. He's one of the coolest characters in the film, IMO.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

That is true, but he was the only elder there, aside from Kraven who really didn't fight.

The other vampires couldn't have down that.

Post by **fgalkin** » 2003-09-20 03:05pm

neoolong wrote:
fgalkin wrote:
neoolong wrote:You thought the vampires were superior to the Lycans?

It seemed to me that when the vampires fought the actual werewolves, that the vampires got owned.

The times when it was Lycans in human form, they didn't seem to do that badly either.
I loved the ease with which Viktor owned that Lycan. He's one of the coolest characters in the film, IMO.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin
That is true, but he was the only elder there, aside from Kraven who really didn't fight.

The other vampires couldn't have down that.

Which is what made him cool.

Btw, I don't think Kraven was an elder vampire. It was the female arriving on the train, IIRC.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-09-20 03:17pm

At the end didn't Selene say that she killed to elder vampires?

She killed Viktor and Kraven right?

Post by **fgalkin** » 2003-09-20 03:24pm

neoolong wrote:At the end didn't Selene say that she killed to elder vampires?

She killed Viktor and Kraven right?

Did she? I thought Kraven escaped?

(although, I admit, my memory of the scene is a bit fuzzy)

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-09-20 03:29pm

fgalkin wrote:
neoolong wrote:At the end didn't Selene say that she killed to elder vampires?

She killed Viktor and Kraven right?
Did she? I thought Kraven escaped? (although, I admit, my memory of the scene is a bit fuzzy)

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Crap, now my memory is fuzzy on whether he escaped too.

I'm pretty sure she said she killed two elders though.

SylasGaunt · Post by **SylasGaunt** » 2003-09-20 03:33pm

neoolong wrote:At the end didn't Selene say that she killed to elder vampires?

She killed Viktor and Kraven right?

She said that two Elder vampires were dead, one by her own hands.

Mark S · Post by **Mark S** » 2003-09-20 03:38pm

They said that two elders had died. That's Viktor and Emelia or whoever they arriving woman was.

On the whole, I liked the movie. It wasn't too "Bladetrix", which was what I feared going in. I liked the plot twists and final truth in the end. I even got past the whole 'vampirism as a virus' thing that everyone seems to do and which I hate with a passion.

I just couldn't figure out Kraven's accent. Sounded kind of like a European that had learned english in Ireland.

CorSec · Post by **CorSec** » 2003-09-20 04:08pm

A friend and I saw it last night. We both agreed that it was an intriguing story, but overall it could have been a little better. (We also agreed that it could have been a lot worse, and were thankful that it wasn't.)

The really good: Kate Beckinsale in form fitting latex. She could have read the entire encyclopedia in that outfit and I wouldn't have cared otherwise. Fortunately, she can act.

The pretty good: I liked the story and the way it was told. There was a good balance between the action and the story being told. I think they squeezed more story than they should have, but I'm at a loss as to what could have been left out.

The bad: Spotty audio work. I only really noticed it in one scene, one of the first scenes between Selene and Kraven. I don't know how it got past post preduction, but it seemed as if Shane Brolly got away from the microphone.

This following is a constant critique of mine for werewolves: They always seem a little over the top with the transformation. It's a personal prefence so I don't usually hate a movie for that alone. I prefer a more subdued style, say like Wolf. Piggy-back on that critique is that the transformation takes time - and in this movie, I'd like to think that time is something the Lycans didn't really have. At least twice a Lycan shape-shifted in front of a combatant. I don't know about you, but I'm not going to stop shooting so my enemy can become stronger.

Which brings me to another critique, which has been mentioned: The Lycans had demonstrable powers. But for the Vampires, it seemed that without their weapons they were defenseless.

Finally, as has also been mentioned, Viktor's got punked on his death scene. Yes, the fight with Corvin's Lycampire (my word) was pretty good (though I disagree that he would immediately be as powerful as the eldest of the Vampires), but having half of his head cut off was just wrong. I would have much preferred he and Selene have a more passionate and emotional confrontation (and a single tear send off as Selene kills her mentor and "father").

I rate it exactly average with 2.5 out of 5.

SylasGaunt · Post by **SylasGaunt** » 2003-09-20 04:23pm

We know the vampires do have some abilities but they seem to be most all related to enhanced physical abilities (the jumps, Selene hoisting micheal up by his throat, etc.) However on the physical front they're just plain outclassed by a pissed off Lycan.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2003-09-20 05:23pm

SylasGaunt wrote:We know the vampires do have some abilities but they seem to be most all related to enhanced physical abilities (the jumps, Selene hoisting micheal up by his throat, etc.) However on the physical front they're just plain outclassed by a pissed off Lycan.

Which is how it should be.

SylasGaunt · Post by **SylasGaunt** » 2003-09-21 12:39am

Indeed. The only vamps who could stand up to transformed Lycans were the Elders. All the others died very very quickly once things got upclose and personal.

Solauren · Post by **Solauren** » 2003-09-21 12:41am

I'm also wondering if the Lycain's, since they are immortal (or so Seles said to Micheal in the car) had been training in secret for centuries and that explained there vampire equal combat abilities

I mean man, that one guy she hit with 4 throwing-star devices was built like an ox

I agree, Kraven was just acted terribly.

I agree, Victor deserved a 'cooler' death, but I love the irony of his death

As for the Vamps not wereing bullet proof vests and there apparently limited powers

These were vampires created via biology, not mystical forces, so they will be limited. After all, which is more powerful, a bat or a wolf?

No bullet proof vest? Hard to have vampire reflexes in those things without lots of training in them. Time consideration

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-09-21 12:46am

Solauren wrote:I'm also wondering if the Lycain's, since they are immortal (or so Seles said to Micheal in the car) had been training in secret for centuries and that explained there vampire equal combat abilities

Most likely Lucian has been doing it when he decided to betray Kraven. But then again, he didn't have that large of an army, so it probably wouldn't have been too much time.

As for the Vamps not wereing bullet proof vests and there apparently limited powers

These were vampires created via biology, not mystical forces, so they will be limited. After all, which is more powerful, a bat or a wolf?

No bullet proof vest? Hard to have vampire reflexes in those things without lots of training in them. Time consideration

The vampires never seemed to show extraordinary agility that would be limited by wearing vests. Though, even Blade could wear a vest and still do his fighting.

Singular Quartet · Post by **Singular Quartet** » 2003-09-21 01:25am

Saw it tonight, and I'll warn you now, my opinion may be a little bit more biased then yours since the thearter I watched it in didn't sync the sound correctly (it felt like I was watching a Godzilla movie), there were a pair of assholes constantly laughing in the background, and a the seats were extremely uncomfterable (no head rests, and the space beteeen them is to small to properly sink down into)

Yep, the movie could have been better, and it could have been worse. Kraven was improperly cast, although the Big Black Guy (tm) was definately very cool, and one of the better characters. If I ignored the physics (which I normally do when I watch movies) I won't bitch about the occasional body being sent flying from bullet impacts, nor the "It's Atomic!" feel when they talk about the Vampirism/Lycanthropy = virus thing and why Micheal is important.

One of the major problems is it just glossed over certain bits, and didn't gloss over other bits. Sure, the backstory for the origins stuff was alright, but the skimping on explanation of why Viktor and Marcus were sleeping, along with the lack-luster love story between Mike and Selene was kinda annoying (you get the impretion that it's entirely hormonal, but he's a twenty-something and she's a six hundred-something, so it doesn't entirely seem right...)

Well... whatever... all in all, it's a good B-movie, with excellent speacial effects, the proper campy dialogue(with a few good lines), and an ending that leaves it very open for a sequel.

Let's just hope that the sequel is better than the first.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-09-21 01:32am

Singular Quartet wrote:One of the major problems is it just glossed over certain bits, and didn't gloss over other bits. Sure, the backstory for the origins stuff was alright, but the skimping on explanation of why Viktor and Marcus were sleeping, along with the lack-luster love story between Mike and Selene was kinda annoying (you get the impretion that it's entirely hormonal, but he's a twenty-something and she's a six hundred-something, so it doesn't entirely seem right...)

It's Kate Beckinsale. I defy you to find any straight and single guy that wouldn't try to get it on with her despite how old she is.