The next three movies in my quest to watch and blog a movie a day in 2012 will be the 1st three films in the Underworld saga: Underworld (2003), Underworld: Evolution (2006) and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009). With the newest installment (Underworld: Awakening) being released today, I have multiple friends wanting to watch the film in theaters, so I decided I should finally watch the first three films.
If I learned one thing from Underworld (directed by Len Wiseman), it is that all vampires and werewolves dress goth when in human form. Oh, and Selene’s (Kate Beckinsale) pistols can switch between semi and fully automatic at will… And never run out of bullets, despite a standard sized clip. Ok, that’s picky, but anyone who is truly a fan of action movies will agree with me, unlimited bullets is the BIGGEST action movie annoyance/inaccuracy! Also, I’m sure some dork will be quick to jump in and point out that lycans are different than werewolves.
To the movie – The background of the war is pretty cool – Started more than a thousand years ago by some dick who didn’t want his vampire daughter falling in love and potentially reproducing with his werewolf slave, creating an “abomination.”
One would figure cooler heads would prevail once that dick became a dried-out piece of vampire meat locked in a tomb… Guess not. Both sides kept fighting. Then, whoops… That uber-dick is also Selene’s mentor, Viktor (Bill Nighy), an Elder of the Vampire species, who she unknowingly bring back to life (Yes, I know that is not the proper term. Sorry, dorks).
Recommendation
I guess the reason I waited so long to watch Underworld was I didn’t really think it would be too good. After watching the movie, reality didn’t greatly surpass my expectation. The movie is worth a watch, with some pretty cool action sequences, but it isn’t a movie I would call a must-see. Although close, the original is the highest rated according to IMDB. I hope this is not the case… Guess I will find out by Sunday.
Underworld has a 6.8/10 rating on IMDB, is 31% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes (but liked by 82% of audiences) and a 42/100 rating on Metacritic.
