Underworld (2003)

• Review: ½ * (out of ****)
• Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Shane Brolly, Michael Sheen, Bill Nighy, Erwin Leder, Sophia Myles
• Director: Len Wiseman
• Screenplay: Danny McBride
• Length: 121 min.
• MPAA Rating: R (For strong violence/gore and some language)

A world of dark plots andcenturies-old conflict is the setting for Underworld , the story of awar between werewolves and vampires.

Underworld opens as twovampires stalk a pair of Lycans (Underworld 's name for werewolves)who have a target of their own. The chase leads into the subway systemwhere a grand battle between the four enemies takes place. In runningfrom a fully formed Lycan, young vampire Selene (Kate Beckinsale)discovers there may be a cairn of werewolves hidden beneath the city.Her suspicions draw her towards the subject of the Lycans pursuit, ahuman man named Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman). She fields hersuggestion to the leader of their clan, Kraven (Shane Brolly), whopromptly dismisses the claim hoping that no one will discover the truthbehind the claim.

Every millennium, one ofthree long-hibernating vampire kings is awakened to limit the power inexistence at any given time. The time of the new awakening is drawingnear. Selene takes her thoughts to the long-sleeping Viktor (BillNighy) whose awakening ceremony isn't to occur for another one thousandyears later. He disbelieves her at first requesting that she bring himproof of its existence. She investigates into the claim soondiscovering that the Lycans are indeed returned and their leader, thepresumed dead Lucian (Michael Sheen), is hoping to find that Corvin isthe one man who can succumb to both Lycan and vampire bites andcontinue to live.

The film's plot is as weakas its lackluster acting. Screenwriter Danny McBride, obviouslyinspired by the plethora of vampire-werewolf war settings (from AnneRice's literary exploits to the role-playing setting from White Wolf),brings us a modestly interesting plot that yields so many plot twiststhat the audience's heads are reeling after watching it. One can easilypay attention to them but the nauseating way that the twists and turnsbounce around makes it an exasperating experience. We discover thatthere truly is no good or evil in this world of darkness but shades ofgray that tend to lean closer to dark than to light.

The performances, notablyfrom the scenery-chewing Brolly and Sheen, are infinitesimally feeble.Lead actors Beckinsale and Speedman show no signs of improvement.Beckinsale is probably the least tepid of the actors while Speedman isthe least accomplished. Neither has the chemistry needed to make thefilm's Romeo and Juliet -style star-crossed lover routine work. EvenBill Nighy, who is the most tenured of the performers, gives only aglossy one-dimensional performance in a role that was done better byAntonio Banderas in Interview with the Vampire

Underworld is agruesomely dark world that perfectly houses the genre its affronting.It doesn't give most viewers a sense of satisfaction at its conclusion;however, it does allow those who enjoy wasteful excursions intoescapism to take pleasure from its incessant chase and battle sequencesand hollow, tedious story.

-Wesley Lovell (October 5, 2003)