FILM REVIEW: Underworld

[diebitter]

UNDERWORLD




Underworld mentioned and Underworld 2 reviewed by Alobar

Review in less than 10 words: Crap plot/dialogue, but cool popcorn movie.

Long version:

Underworld is a movie set in a gothic, dark world, where vampires and 'lycans' (fancy-pants way of saying werewolves) are at war, and amid this chaos strides a vampire assassin/warrior Selene, played by the gorgeous Kate Beckinsale. The war seems to be drawing to a close, and Selene comes across a human who seems to hold the key to forging some sort of peace or connection between werewolves and vampires - but there's lots of obstacles to overcome...

Sounds awesome, huh? Vampires vs Werewolves! A leather-clad dominatrix-type turn from Kate Beckinsale, who wears her leather REALLY REALLY well! And also a star-turn from hottie Sophia Myles (picture above, on right) as another cool vampire chick too....

meh. The plot is too convoluted to be fun, the dialogue is pretty bad, and the whole pacing and coherency seems to be poorly conceived - it's all over the place. The CGI werewolves are a bit too CGI, and this diverts your attention too much and you keep remembering you're watching a movie, rather than just let you get on with watching and enjoying. There is a possible subtext here that Vampires represent the upper class or aristocracy, whilst werewolves are the lower-class, thuggish type, but that really never gets explored (and who cares anyway?)

On the plus side, the action scenes are okay, we still get poster-girl Beckinsale in black leather, and overall it's a passable way to pass an hour or two.

Overall, the worst thing about this film is the truly wasted potential - great ideas and great cast - but it's not BAD and reasonably entertaining, and worth a watch. I liked it, and you may like it too, but it's not gonna stick with you.


OVERALL: 2
REWATCHABILITY: Once every few years. Or whenever a sequel comes out [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

RATINGS (out of 5):
0 - This is a complete waste of time, and you will regret wasting it
1 - don't bother unless no other options at all
2 - okay for a single watch, if you've got time
3 - Definite watch if you get a chance
4 - See it very soon, at least once before you die
5 - See it immediately, no excuses

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