Extras:
Featurettes: Bloodlines: From Script to Screen, The Hybrid Teory, Making Monsters Roar, The War Rages On,
Building A Saga, Music and Mayhem, Music Video, Audio Commentary
Director:
Len Wiseman
(Live Free or Die Hard, Underworld, Underworld: Evolution)
Producers:
David Coatsworth, Gary Lucchesi, Tom Rosenberg and Richard Wright
Screenplay:
Danny McBride
(from a story by Len Wiseman and Danny McBride)
Music:
Marco Beltrami
Cast:
Selene: Kate Beckinsale
Michael Corvin: Scott Speedman
Marcus Corvinus: Tony Curran
Kraven: Shane Brolly
Alexander Corvinus: Derek Jacobi
Viktor: Bill Nighy
Andreas Tanis: Steven Mackintosh
Amelia: Zita Görög
William Corvinus: Brian Steele
Soren: Scott McElroy
Samuel: John Mann
Lucian: Michael Sheen
Erika: Sophia Myles
Pierce: Rich Cetrone
Underworld: Evolution
starts off in 1202 AD where the two sons of Alexander Corvinus (Derek Jacobi),
Marcus (Tony Curran) and William (Brian Steele) are having rather a to-do, as
sibling rivalry can often exhibit.
Marcus was bitten by a bat and became the blood leader fo the vampires, while William took it from
a wolf and became the first and most powerful Lycan, so, yes, he just looks like a wolf during his
time onscreen. This opening section also gives us a chance to see characters such as Lucian and Viktor
who were offed in
the first installment,
which I didn't exactly go a bundle on, but can the sequel rectify that? Yes, it can as pontificating
scenes are kept to a minimum so more time is spent on the action.
Self-proclaimed death-dealer Selene (Kate Beckinsale, once again looking resplendent in her
rubber catsuit) killed Viktor (Bill Nighy) at the end of part one, and now only has Michael
(Scott Speedman) left on her side. However, he turned out to be the human descendent of Alexander
Corvinus, neither vampire nor Lycan, but a hybrid, so she's got a problem either way as we get back to
the present day where Michael is trying to get adjusted to his new-found status, but first Selene now
wants to awaken Marcus and get the truth out, before Kraven (Shane Brolly) turns up first to
kill him.
There are lots of flashbacks to the first film to remind you of what happened, and also as Marcus, now
awoken, sets about to have his vengeance and track down Michael, the method of which will become clear
as you watch the film. Derek Jacobi does a good turn as Alexander Corvinus, the father of all the vampires,
and Steven Mackintosh hams it up nicely as Andreas Tanis, a man who's been in exile for the past
300 years for reasons I'll also leave you to discover, but he's essential for helping Selene and Michael
piece everything together.
And one piece of the puzzle is a mysterious amulet which Marcus is after in his bid to free William who
was locked away 800 years ago. Cue a WWE-style match between Marcus and Michael, an inevitable soft-focus
sex scene, some nice slomo CGI effects and cool Ray Harryhausen-style model shots involving William the
werewolf and you have a far better overall result than the original movie, even if it is incredibly daft
at times.
At the end it hints at another sequel, although IMDB suggests that a prequel is on the cards for
release in 2009. Either way, I shall be looking forward to it.
Oh, and once again I've used pictures of Kate Beckinsale in her role as Selene (top-right) and as
she is in real life (above-right) just because she's very hot.
The picture is superb with not a single glitch to be found on the 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen image.
Sadly, there's no DTS soundtrack this time, leaving just a Dolby Digital 5.1 option which could've been
avoided if they'd released it as a 2-disc set like the first film's special edition. No doubt EIV will
pull that trick again later on. While the sound effects are good in the opening scene, there's a
number of other occasions, such as towards the end when it involves a helicopter, where it's really
lacking which is a great shame.
The film was, again, shot in Super 35 so the 16:9 and 4:3 clips on many of the extras show extra screen
height top and bottom with little or no cropping for non-CGI scenes.
There are no chapters in the extras at all, most of which you can predict the content inside, and they
total 77 minutes - not including the commentary, starting with:
Bloodlines: From Script To Screen (13:23) which sets the tone for all six featurettes where
chat from the cast and crew, filmed in 4:3, is mixed in with 2.35:1 letterboxed film clips. Here
we're told that all concerned felt there was more of a story to be told (and more money to be made, as
a result) so cue the inevitable sequel. Of course, these additions should only be watched once you've
seen the movie itself so you don't encounter spoilers.
The Hybrid Theory (12:58), I was expecting would've gone into more detail about Michael's
predicament, instead just concentrates on the visual effects used in several scenes through the film
and how CGI wasn't always relied upon exclusively to get the job done, to get a better overall effect.
Making Monsters Roar (11:54) is subtitled 'Creature Effects' and you can guess which aspect
of the movie this one is about.
The War Rages On (9:52) is about the stunts and stunt coordinator Brad Martin confirms
what we could see in that there's more action in this sequel, when compared to the original.
Building a Saga (12:54) features production design with a scale that's 2-3 times larger than
the first one and a budget to match that allows them to do things they didn't get chance to do back then.
Music and Mayhem (11:48) is, as you'd expect, about the music score and the sound design
throughout the movie.
Music Video (3:52): This one's for Her Portrait in Black by Atreyu and grunges along
loudly.
Audio Commentary: The last extra on this DVD is a feature-length commentary courtesy of
director Len Wiseman, Editor Nick De Toth, production designer Patrick Tatopoulous
and stunt coordinator Brad Martin.
The DVD menu has subtle animation to reflect the look of Marcus' tomb with some great DD5.1 sound,
but there's a pitiful 12 chapters to the film - half the number the original had - and the subtitles
are in English only.
My only complaint about the presentation is that EIV have stuck a trailer at the start of the disc
for Slither, prior to when the main menu appears. Just what do you think the 'extras' section
is for, EIV? We've grown out of the procedures once exploited from the days of video rental.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Underworld: Evolution: 
Underworld: Evolution
starts off in 1202 AD where the two sons of Alexander Corvinus (Derek Jacobi),
Marcus (Tony Curran) and William (Brian Steele) are having rather a to-do, as
sibling rivalry can often exhibit.
There are lots of flashbacks to the first film to remind you of what happened, and also as Marcus, now
awoken, sets about to have his vengeance and track down Michael, the method of which will become clear
as you watch the film. Derek Jacobi does a good turn as Alexander Corvinus, the father of all the vampires,
and Steven Mackintosh hams it up nicely as Andreas Tanis, a man who's been in exile for the past
300 years for reasons I'll also leave you to discover, but he's essential for helping Selene and Michael
piece everything together.
