Underworld (2003)

User Review

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  TheMovieDiorama

  6 / 10

  Underworld is the female equivalent of 'Blade'. Whether you view that as pleasant or hideous is up to you, I for one believe it to be a refreshing change despite being released during the height of the 'Blade' franchise. The vampiric Death Dealer Selene is in the midst of an eternal war, Lycans against vampires. Convinced that these werewolves murdered her family, she's hellbent on destroying the Lycans to save her covenant. It's a complicated family tree with deathly descendants and plenty of double-crossing, which does make for an interesting story. McBride's screenplay turns traditional monsters into a gritty gang war whilst embedding genetics along the way. It feels fresh, even when watching it today, just a shame that McBride's script is littered with thin characterisation and plagued with bland dialogue. Several scenes where I became disengaged just because of how tedious the story was told. Takes itself far too seriously with all the mumbo jumbo about the Corvin bloodline, lycans, vampi...yawwwn...see what I mean? What Underworld does do well is world building. The bleak underground environment and stormy weathering creates a gothic atmosphere that would suit the accompaniment of an Evanescence soundtrack (hold onto that thought...). The production and visual designs were a dark delight and certainly assisted in enhancing the world it was portraying. Acting was functional, aside from Nighy and Sheen who gave great performances, everyone else just walked around in the darkness shooting at each other. Beckinsale definitely catapulted herself into stardom though, and clearly liked wearing leather attire ever since. The minimal use of CGI was appreciated and the final act was excitingly directed by Wiseman. It is plagued with generic sound effects, y'know the ones you could find in any horror or gothic video game, which does infuriate me slightly as it just urges me to play 'Devil May Cry' again. However, Underworld is a thinly written promising start at blending action and horror together. The question is can it maintain this level of interest? Well, you'll see...

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