Dan Owen reviews
Underworld: Evolution
Viewed at Odeon, Lincoln Wharf
Underworld: Special Edition 
- Cert:
- Running time: 105 minutes
- Year: 2006
- Released: 20th January 2006
- Widescreen Ratio: 2.35:1
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Director:
(Underworld, Underworld: Evolution)
Producers:
David Coatsworth, Gary Lucchesi, Danny McBride, James McQuaid, Tom Rosenberg, Skip Williamson & Richard S Wright
Screenplay:
(from a story by Len Wiseman, based on characters created by
Kevin Grevioux, Danny McBride & Len Wiseman)
Cinematographer:
Music:
Marco Beltrami (Terminator 3)
Cast:
Selene: Kate Beckinsale
Michael: Scott Speedman
Marcus: Tony Curran
Corvinus: Sir Derek Jacobi
Viktor: Bill Nighy
Tanis: Steven Mackintosh
Kraven: Shane Brolly
The first Underworld was a huge disappointment.
It promised Matrix-style
visuals mixed with a ferocious werewolves versus vampires storyline with
plenty of bite. What we got was low-rent Romeo & Juliet, seen through the
eyes of a director weined on MTV music videos. Its saving grace was some
sporadically entertaining action sequences, Kate Beckinsale's sultry pout
and Bill Nighy's eminently enjoyable turn as uber-vampire Viktor.
Given the first movie's critical panning, it's something of an achievement
that a sequel was even discussed, let alone released theatrically with its
lead actress intact just a few years later. Oh, the price of marriage, eh
Mrs Wiseman?
Underworld: Evolution continues the story from the exact point we left it -
after a text legend that recaps the film's mythology and a fun flashback to
the Middle Ages where horse-riding vampires raize a werewolf infested
village to the ground. Despite these attempts, this sequel will still
confuse newcomers and no doubt leave them bamboozled until the basic thrust
of the story finally gels together towards the end.
You see, while the plot is hardly taxing, its execution is choppy and
reliant on huge cliches even Stephen Sommers wouldn't dare write (oh, wait,
I forgot about
The Mummy Returns).
The upshot is that "death dealer" (ie,
"vampire assassin") Selene is on the run from fellow vampires with her hunky
boyfriend Michael - who's actually a cross-breed of vampire and Lycan (ie,
"werewolf"). The age-old battle between vampire and lycan is still ongoing -
but now Marcus, the first vampire, needs Selene's blood so he can locate the
resting place of his brother William - the first lycan.
It's a plot straight from a Playstation game, which is what this resembles
most of the time, and one where a few of the story's turning points are
actually given away in the opening legend! Arse.
Still, amazingly Underworld: Evolution is still an improvement on its
predecessor, but only through virtue of better special-effects and absence
of a mid-section slump in action sequences. Fundamentally, Evolution is much
more of much the same, but blessed with a satisfying villain in Marcus (Tony
Curran - well, powerful when in full make-up anyway...) and the acting chops
of Nighy (a mere cameo, but fun) and Derek Jacobi (good value, yet
criminally underused).
We expect ageing British thespians to take the pay cheque and run with silly
Hollywood bunkum like this, but promising young starlet Kate Beckinsale is
so much better than this tripe. After her "breakout" role in Pearl Harbor,
she could have put Underworld down to a misstep, but to sign up for its
unnecessary sequel is just sheer dumbness - no doubt encourage by
husband-director Len Wiseman. Here's hoping Wiseman allows his wife to
continue her career trajectory to better things - even though Evolution
leaves the gate wide open for an even more pointless sequel. Maybe once the
Honeymoon period is over...?
However, there's no denying that Beckinsale is a believable action heroine
with the limited range her character embodies. Despite her small waif-like
stature, she can shoot guns like a good 'un. But that's all Selene is,
really - a gun-firing waif in a skintight catsuit with a pout.
Elsewhere, Scott Speedman reminds us why his career stagnated after the
first Underworld. If you want a boring all-American jock with good pecs -
he's your man. Speedman is again condemned to grimmace through make-up that
makes him look like a particularly non-threatening combination of a blue
Incredible Hulk and a Neanderthal man. A risible "twist" at the end with his
character also beggars belief.
As always with these movies, the dependable British actors in villainous
roles somehow get away with it. Nighy and Jacobi phone in their
performances, true, but they're nevertheless watchable onscreen presences.
Tony Curran (The League Of Extraordinary Gentleman) makes a strong
impression as new villain Marcus, particularly when hidden by layers of
Nosferati-esque prosthetics and aided by some fantastic killer wings.
The special-effects aren't a quantum leap from the first movie's, but there
are more of them and they're generally better refined. The werewolf
transformations are smoother, all the CGI creatures are more believable
(save for a few dodgy shots in a mediavel village) and the resulting fight
sequences are often quite bruising. A scene with vampire Marcus flapping
bat-like around a truck being driven by Selene is a particular highlight, as
is the climactic showdown (just don't mention the animatronic wolf straight
out of Dog Soldiers...)
Overall, Underworld: Evolution is silly, derivative, aimless, and acting
low-points for all concerned, but it's also an improvement over the first
movie due to pacing and effects work. You'd be advised to watch the first
movie before coming to the sequel obviously, as Evolution is, essentially,
the first movie's "Act IV".
The fact the door's open for "Act V" will be the cause for alarm or joy
depending on how well you can take two hours of vampires beating up
werewolves. Personally, take this on its own merits and it's an
entertaining, yet instantly forgettable, way of spending a few hours...
DIRECTION
PERFORMANCES
PLOT
MUSIC & SOUND
SPECIAL FX
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OVERALL
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Review copyright © Dan Owen, 2006.
E-mail Dan Owen
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DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
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