Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

I saw the original Underworld movie whenever it came out and haven’t seen or thought of it again since then (I do own the 2 disc collector’s edition though). I enjoyed it, but didn’t think it was really anything special. Maybe I expected alot more action and didn’t appreciate the story, I don’t know. When Underworld: Evolution came out a few years later, I had no desire to see it and the all-around bad buzz assured that I stayed away. If I had something better to do with my time, I probably wouldn’t have seen Rise of the Lycans, but here we are. After seeing this newest installment, I might have to check out that 2 disc edition after all.

I went into this film expecting to get an entertaining action film, and not much else, and that’s pretty much exactly what I got. As I previously mentioned, I remember nothing from the original Underworld other than the fact that Kate Beckinsale looks awesome in leather. This could have been a problem since I’ll admit, I was quite confused as to the plot of this movie. I got that there are the aristocratic vampires and their slave lycans (werewolves). What I did not get was the mythos behind the story. Does this movie take place in a perpetual state of night? Can lycans control when the turn? What’s the difference between Michael Sheen’s Lucian and all of those other lycans that were running around in the woods? How come some of the vampires eyes are always white, and some of them are changing color? I might be able to answer those questions now, but I came up with a better one: it doesn’t matter. It’s all about the fight scenes, and the majority of the time, they do not disappoint.

Unlike the first two Underworld movies, RotL takes place back in medieval times, so there’s no guns, which means the fighting is always up close and personal. The vampires do favor the crossbow, but the best fight scenes involve a good, old-fashioned sword and some claws. The fight scenes are well choreographed, especially a certain scene with Lucian and Victor. Sheen is great reprising his role of Lucian, although it was very strange to see David Frost as a bad-ass werewolf. He is a compelling protagonist, even though he seems to be doing a combination of Viggo Mortensen in Lord of the Rings and Gerard Butler in 300. Bill Nighy is perfect as the film’s villain, the head vampire, Victor. Nighy is thoroughly creepy and menacing. Rhona Mitra (aka fake Kate Beckinsale) is good in her role, but she is no Beckinsale, and this is a film about the conflict between Lucian and Victor, and Mitra’s Sonya is only a pawn to move the plot along.

To close, I would recommend this movie to anyone who liked the firstUnderworld or if you have a strong interest in seeing vampires and werewolves involved in large sword fights. Don’t get bogged down in the werewolf-vampire romantic melodrama. Just wait for the swords to come out.