Year:
2003
Studio:
Lakeshore Entertainment/Screen Gems
Feature:
3/5
Feature
A movie about Vampires versus Werewolves in a six-hundred year war,
with a bit of Romeo and Juliet in it, the first time I heard of
"Underworld" I didn't give it much thought. When White Wolf sued Sony,
claiming that the movie violates World of Darkness copyrights, that
picqued my interest. Not because I like the WoD (I have no opinion
about it), but that White Wolf thinks they have a lock on the goth-punk
Vampire scene.
Admittedly I don't know that much about the WoD. I have a lot of the
books but haven't read any of them (scanned a couple) and certainly
haven't done Vampire roleplaying. But after seeing the movie I was
thinking "well that was all fairly generic". It's hard to imagine that
White Wolf's 60 points of similarity are anything other than nitpicks
and coincidences.
But enough of my little rant. "Underworld" is an action movie first of
all, with Kate Beckinsale playing the lead role of Selene, a member of
the Vampire special forces, the Death Dealers. One of her missions
turns out badly when the Werewolves reveal their new weapon, UV
bullets. But the interesting part is that the Werewolves (referred to
as Lycans throughout the movie) seemed to be after Michael Corvin
(Scott Speedman), a human medical intern at a local hospital.
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Intrigued,
Selene goes after Corvin, without approval from the current
Vampire leader Kraven (Shane Brolly). As she gets involved in the
mystery, she comes to realize that the Vampires are in grave danger and
apparently nobody believes her. It's all got something to do with
Corvin, a human infected by the Werewolf virus, and a man that she's
strangely attracted to.
Actors
Kate Beckinsale looks great in a leather suit (for the most part the
Vampires are well dressed upper class people and the Werewolves are
more ruffian, lower class dregs). It's not a movie that requires lots
of acting, though she does the "understated sexual tension" well. I
first remember her from "Pearl Harbor", though apparently she was in
"Much Ado About Nothing". Wow, she was in "Brokedown Palace" opposite
Claire Danes -- totally don't recognize her. And she was in
"Serendipity" which I thought was ok.
Scott Speedman I remember from "Duets". I think his big recognizable
role was in the television show "Felicity" which I didn't watch. In
this movie he plays a bewildered man who keeps getting himself in
danger and has to be rescued by our heroine Selene. That is until he
gains ultimate power in the end (and the makeup for that was quite
awful).
Recommendations
I liked the movie. The plot is surprisingly complex and mysterious,
though part of it may be that it's not presented clearly. It's a dark
movie with no daylight scenes at all (though some scenes seem to have
sunlight in them). Overall lots of Selene kicking butts and taking
names, though she doesn't really kick that much butt, instead relying
on her twin machine-gun pistols. I recommend this movie.
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