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This is the movie that should have been done first off. The way it turned out, while watching, you know what is going to happen, having seen the story-line in the original UNDERWORLD. And that's a shame, because I can quite imagine how I would have freaked out normally at the sight of Sonja getting burnt to a crisp, the queen or the modern martyrs of female movie characters. As you can guess, I am a Rhona Mitri fan, especially because of PARTY OF FIVE, even if her character was grossly underdeveloped there, and NIP/TUCK to a lesser extent, because there her character regressed into a shambles. So, despite not really having seen her in anything worthy of her, I am a Rhona Mitra fan (and no, I haven't seen her in FHM magazines either) you know why? It's the age-old RavenGlamDVDCollector thing... that foxy face! She is just beautiful.Review
I normally avoid the kind of slasher movie where girls get killed for the heck of it left, right, front and center, and it was a total bummer to have the lead lady killed off about 80% through the movie, but this film is just marvelously done in a most astounding way, including the death scene. It is just absolutely breathtaking. It cements Sonja as an unforgettable character.
Actually, Sonja's more to my liking than that cold-as-ice deathly Selene. I'm not saying anything at all against Kate Beckinsale, no way, Selene is a scripted character and she is scripted that way to be played that way. But to those of you criticizing Rhona's Sonja as light- weight compared to Kate's Selene, I do not agree. I think everybody will concur that two superb stars were chosen for the two female leads.
(Apologies to you seriously-into-gore and CGI mayhem dudes, I'm just a Rhona Mitra fanboy!)
P.S. I should also mention that Michael Sheen and Ben Nighy outdid themselves. That is some compliment from a guy who is obsessed only with actresses. Take it as a feather in your caps, guys.
Whew, after the trilogy set, gee, had my fill of wolfy violence! And dark blue screens! :)
Kate Beckinsale was quite clearly the best thing the Underworld franchise had going for it. Making an Underworld movie without her was either very bold or very stupid. Happily, with Rise of the Lycans, that decision proved to be more bold than stupid. Yes, Beckinsale is missed. No, this movie is not as much fun as the first installment in the series. But there are enough good things here to make this movie a worthy addition to the saga. It may fall short of the original but it is at least on par with, probably even a touch better than, Evolution. And Evolution had Beckinsale in it so that's saying something!
Beckinsale is not here because this is a prequel, her character of Selene has yet to enter the story. This movie takes us back to the origin of the Lycans, the werewolves who retain the ability to transform back into human form. Lucian, who we know so well from movie number one, is the first Lycan. And that's good news because that means Michael Sheen is back. In the first film, told from a vampire's point of view, Lucian was the bad guy. Here we see things through Lycan eyes, Lucian is the hero. And Sheen gives a very powerful performance, he is indeed an inspiring hero. But if we are meant to sympathize with the Lycans in this movie, and we clearly are, who's the bad guy? Welcome back vampire elder Viktor, played as in the first film by Bill Nighy. Viktor, as any fan of the saga knows, is quite a nasty piece of work. And Nighy plays the part with gleeful relish. This is one of the hammiest performances you'll ever see, laughably over-the-top. But for this kind of film it actually kind of works. We're talking about vampires and werewolves here, let's not take things too seriously.
Sheen and Nighy draw most of the attention. The other key role goes to Rhona Mitra. She plays Viktor's daughter, Sonja, who is of course in a forbidden romance with Lucian. We know how that story will play itself out but it's interesting seeing the journey to that story's end. Mitra gives a solid performance, though certainly not as memorable as Sheen or Nighy. She's obviously meant to be this movie's Beckinsale and while not as great as Kate she holds her own. Even if we already know much of the story heading in this film still manages to entertain and spring a surprise or two along the way. In some ways though the film does disappoint. The scale of the thing seems rather small, almost entirely contained within the vampire fortress. The action is, after what we've seen in the first two films, overly familiar and repetitive. And oh so dark. Yes, vampire stories have to unfold at night but honestly this film is shot in such a dimly lit way it's often impossible to tell what's going on. And there is the sense that the movie ends just when it should be getting good. We see the rise of the Lycans, the start of the war we've heard so much about. And then it's over. There's so much more we already know about the story that we could have seen on screen. The movie could have gone further. We could have seen some more of that war. We could have seen that famous confrontation between Lucian and Kraven. And of course we could have seen Selene. This movie leaves a lot on the table. Though if the worst thing you can say about a movie is that it leaves you wanting more that's not so bad.
Have you watched the first 'Underworld?' If you have, you may well remember a bit of talking about a female vampire who fell in love with a male werewolf (sorry, 'lycan'). Well, that three minute monologue from the original has been turned into an hour and a half story. And this is it.
So, if you've seen the first film, there's nothing here that will come as a surprise. But that doesn't mean it's a bad film. For a start (despite being made by a different director) it has the same look and feel of its two predecessors and most of the appropriate original cast members return. Special mention to Bill Nighy who steals every scene as the evil vampire 'Victor.' There's action, romance and plenty of mutated wolves mixing it with medieval vampires. If that's what you're looking for (and, if you like the other Underworld movies then you probably do) then this should tick all boxes.
However, behind all the action and gore is a strong romantic story - your typical 'forbidden love' debacle between two clans, in some crazy way, almost like Romeo and Juliet. Despite the Underworld series all featuring this as a central theme, it continues the tradition of being 'Twilight' for the older generation (who definitely don't like their vampires with big hair and sparkly skin).
Warning: this Underworld movie does NOT feature Kate Beckinsale (not unless you could the five seconds at the end). I've seen a fair few people moaning because it doesn't. You have been warned (although Rhona Mitra isn't that bad as a replacement in my opinion!).
Normally the last in the trilogy of the Underworld saga takes us back to the time Victor (Bill Nighy) reign his world and saves the baby Lucian (Michael Sheen). But Lucian as a lycan falls in love with the daughter of Victor Sonja (Rhona Mitra). Of course this can't happen and Lucian is punished for that particular fact. Victor looks toward Lucian as his son and keeps him alive. But Lucian wants Sonja to help him to free the slaves of the vampires, the lycans. Big love between the two of them but Victor doesn't want it to happen. From there on you will see what you saw in part 1 and 2 in the flashbacks. This is a prequel and explains all your questions.
It's the darkest entry with an excellent score and of course Bill and Michael carry this flick. Rhona is a copy of Kate Beckinsale only to be seen at the end of Rise Of The Lycans. It should be so because we all know that Victor killed Selene's parents and saved her because she looked like Sonja. And it does.
The effects are again excellent, maybe the only complain is the use of CGI for blood here and there. For me this was the strongest entry so far in the Underworld franchise.
Gore 1/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 4/5 Story 4/5 Comedy 0/5
I kind of thought this movie sucked. The plot was pretty bad. Lucian, whose half human and half wolf, is a slave of the head vampire, Viktor. He's also having an affair with Viktor's daughter, Sonja, which of course is forbidden. Then there was something about Lucian making a key to unlock his collar, how did he make a key to do that? And way, that is forbidden, so Viktor punishes him with beatings. Lucian and some other prisoners escape and come back to the castle to rescue the others and take Sonja with him.
The special effects were not good. They were shown without much light, making it hard to even tell what was happening. The blood was so fake. And the transformations from human to wolf were not creative. And why didn't the werewolves fight the vampires as a werewolf instead of human form. And the vampires never transformed into anything or even use their powers. It was silly.
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