Underworld (2003):

Starring:

Kate Beckinsale - Selene

Scott Speedman - Michael Corvin

Michael Sheen - Lucian

Shane Brolly - Kraven

Bill Nighy - Viktor

Erwin Leder - Singe

Sophia Myles - Erika

Robbie Gee - Kahn

Wentworth Miller - Dr. Adam Lockwood

Kevin Grevioux - Raze

Zita Gorog - Amelia

Director:

Len Wiseman (Underworld Quadrilogy; Total Recall (2012))

Synopsis:

Selene, a beautiful vampire warrior, is entrenched in a war between the vampire and werewolf races. Although she is aligned with the vampires, she falls in love with Michael, a werewolf who longs for the war to end.

Review:

Ah yes the wonderful world of Vampires & Werewolves. Definitely a genre that up to current times has been completely run into the ground & over used almost as much as zombie & exorcism films. This one was one of the earliest ones in the genre of the more current times. Now in a spoiler alert, I'm going to review all 4 Underworld movies back to back (because that is how I watched them) & I'm fairly certain that the reviews will be all similar so this one I will review the actually quadrilogy & genre, the other 3 will just be anything to compare to the other films & anything different. So the storyline is something that has now become common. Vampires vs Werewolves but also vs Humans. The story is OK, it runs somewhat long & there are definitely times when it could have ended but it kept going slightly too long. The acting is incredibly hit or miss. Kate Beckinsale is very good at physicality & actions, no one is doubting that. She's is an incredibly sexy woman, again no dispute. Her acting however is really hit or miss. Sometimes I find her super convincing & really bad ass, but then there are times that I don't find her to be engaging enough & doesn't have enough range from certain emotions. Michael Sheen is great, as he is in everything. You don't usually see him now in the villain role so watching him be a revenge driven werewolf is really different. Something I found silly is that everyone else in that film has an accent of some kind (all of the Vampires & Lycans) however Shane Brolly (an Irish actor) has an American accent? But then at sometimes, especially when he is yelling, you can really hear his accent sneak through. And lets not mention the fact that he looks EXACTLY like John Morrison. Bill Nighy is such a great actor, that even when he's playing an ancient powerful vampire he can steal the show. He's one of the true greats in my opinion. Don't really find Scott Speedman to be a very good actor & he looks so incredibly awkward as a physical actor. The movie is of course visually appealing, it's got quite good CGI for a movie of 2003. Now the very cool thing is that from #1 - #3 the story is slowly taking your non-Selene allegiance from Vampires to Werewolves leading to the climax at #3 (even thought it was a prequel) then in #4 then your switched back to Vampires. Overall the franchise was good, sometimes a little stale, also slow moving. Visually great, story & plot are what they are & acting was good, not great.

Rotten Tomatoes: 31%

Flixster: 82%

73%

Lead Acting: 8/15

Supporting Cast: 11/15

Plot: 8/10

Compared To The Genre: 8/10

Cinematography: 14/20

Intrigue: 16/20

Extra: 8/10