Directed by Len Weisman
Starring Kate Beckingsale, Scott Speedman, Bill Nighy.
Underworld: Evolution certainly never caters for new viewers to the franchise. This is a film for the true believers who went and saw the first flick and enjoyed what they got. If you were one of those people, you will be very pleased to know that this film serves up more of the same.
The film starts off with a back-story of the hunting of the first lychan, William, by the vampire hordes of Viktor and Markus, the elder lords of the vampire sect way back in 1202. This opening scene looks very arbitrary and even jarring in relation to the memory that one has of the first film. It’s the weakest scene in the movie, with too much CGI pushing you out of a story that should be pulling you in. The thing that struck me is that this could’ve been a bad place to start a film, and it was… until the film starts back up. What has been established at the outset helps to set up the tension between Markus and everyone else, with a secret between the relationship between William and Markus that plays into the mayhem that goes on for the next hour and a half.
Fortunately, the film does gets better. We return to the present day and see what has happened to our leads Selene (Beckingsale), the former death dealer, and Michael (Speedman), the hybrid vampire-lychan. They look very wet, hungry and lost as they go on the run from the vampires due to their actions in the first film.
The first film removed Viktor from the picture, and set the scene for the awakening of Markus, and a visit to the vampire mansion where we left off in the last film confirms this as Markus is awake from his nap and is soon off laying down some violence on the streets. Markus knows all about the events of the first film, tired of the silliness he goes on a hunt for Selene for some answers. It seems that there is more to the locket that Michael is wearing and the reason behind Selene’s family’s death than we knew. These threads all come together with secrets and revelations that really require a score card and a long term memory for the first film.
With this basic plot for the film up and running we go and proceed to the action that the majority of the films intended audience are expecting: Vampires, Werewolves, blood, guns, dreary skies, wacky sex, explosions, hot babes and guys wandering about in outfits that lead nothing to imagination. If one has an issue with these things, please save the rest of the world your negative energy and go and see something else. Underworld Evolution makes no bones about what it is: Big exploding fun for the adult who never forgot what it was like to be a teenager with an overactive imagination and a need for release.
The directing and performances of the film could have been really bad. The thing that really bothers people with genre films in particular is when the actors and the creative staff look like they are just making a film for the sake of cashing-in. With the Underworld franchise that is not the case. Both Weisman and Beckingsale are dedicated to the work. Weisman directs the shots that look really wild with aplomb, and makes the monsters sound, look, and act scary. Whilst Beckingsale makes us want to cheer her on as she beats, kills, and looks cute in an unbelievably sexy black spandex and leather outfit again.
I liked the film for what it is. It’s sexy, exploding fun with scares, thrills and blood to keep its audience amazed and amused. Sometimes that’s all a film needs to be able to do.
- Francis Davis a career drunk with a love of comics and movies, lives in and works for the City of Chicago. Confidentiality agreements prevent him from saying exactly what he does, but it is important.