Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)

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  TheMovieDiorama

  5 / 10

  Underworld: Rise of the Lycans proves to be an unnecessary prequel. In an attempt to shake the series, we no longer have Selene decimating vampires and lycans...she was too busy being a US marshal in Antarctica (translates to Beckinsale filming 'Whiteout'). Wiseman, McBride and new director Tatopoulos thought to bring back fan favourites Lucian and Viktor in an episodic chapter that still feels all too familiar. Detailing how the war against vampires and lycans started, it divulges in the forbidden love story of werewolf Lucian and vampire Sonja. I shan't spoil what happens, because the original film already did so. Quite literally a full on expositional flashback in the first 'Underworld' illustrated this tainted romance, did we honestly need to have a whole film about it? Personally, no. I can't quite remove the concept that this was simply just a filler in a franchise that is now declining. Despite the pointlessness of this chapter, it surprisingly does have emotion and is by far the best written story of all the entries. McBride was able to capture the secretive intimate relationship with a sense of impending doom, evoking sympathy towards the main characters. Michael Sheen gives an excellent performance as does Bill Nighy against a mediocrely monotonous supporting cast. Can't quite determine if Rhona Mitra was good...just seemed like she was mimicking Beckinsale's previous performances. The medieval production designs enhanced the dark Transylvanian environment and were well suited. The creature prosthetics remain authentic and continue the franchise's dependency on them. Unfortunately, some horrific transformation effects and green screen do detract from the quality of this prequel. The action scenes were messy, plagued with quick cuts and the constant flashing of lightning which makes them unbearably difficult to watch. An 87 minute runtime also seemed like 120 minutes, indicating that the pacing does drag particularly during the first two acts. This prequel has good intentions, for everything it does right it also horribly misfires on other elements.

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