emailtommyprins Everything about this,reminds me of the Matrix,the set design,the actors appearance,the camerawork,the music..yet hardly anyone seems to notice.

jimbo-53-186511 Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is a vampire warrior who finds herself slap bang in the middle of a war between werewolves or Lycans and vampires because she falls in love with a human host called Michael (Scott Speedman). But it isn't only Selene that is in the middle of this war it turns out that Michael is part of the war too and he is seemingly an integral part of the battle between the Lycans and the vampires....First things first this is a stylistic triumph and it's fair to say that it's hard not to be blown away by the visuals and the whole style of the product. Whilst this has a lot of the Matrix style choreography and impressive visuals what it doesn't have is a particularly impressive story or engaging narrative....There is a war brewing between the Lycans and the vampires and Michael (a human) is unfortunately caught up between the two rivalling factions. Ordinarily, the idea of two warring factions and one man/person being caught in the middle can present itself as being an interesting idea, but with Underworld the whole concept is so poorly conceived and developed that it gets to the point where you find yourself rather indifferent to everything.The film's true shining glory is in its style and presentation; it's clear that director Len Wiseman has watched the Matrix and other Wachowski films as his approach here feels very similar; eye-popping visuals and impressive choreography, but the narrative feels hollow and underwritten and as a story it never really engages.The performances are a mixed bag and whilst Kate Beckinsale is absolutely gorgeous she is very bland in the lead role (and it really pains me to say this as I was a big fan of her late father when he was in Porridge). Her supporting cast do fare better with the likes of Scott Speedman, Michael Sheen, Shane Brolly and Bill Nighy all of whom put in solid supporting performances.One other thing working against the film (other than Beckinsale's performance) is the unrelentingly drab and gloomy tone. The whole tone of the film is way too dark and coupled with a weak and underwritten narrative it also feels quite boring and it's fair to say that the two hour running time feels at least 50% longer than the actual run time.Underworld will undoubtedly impress younger viewers who may get taken in by the garish visuals, but for mature audiences or for anyone with half a brain the dreary tone and weak story are going to serve more as an annoyance and make one wish that they'd left the Underworld well alone.

Fella_shibby I saw this first in a theatre in 2003. Revisited it recently on a DVD. Seen all its sequels in theatre. The plot - Kate Beckinsale is a vampire looking incredibly hot in ridiculously tight leather matrix style clothes whose job it is to eliminate the werewolves as part of the centuries old war between the two species. Her acting is good too. Things change when Beckinsale tries to protect a human, Speedman who is targetted by the werewolves for some reasons. The movie has a distinctively Gothic look, with great attention given to the backdrop. Every inch of the cinematography is polished. The architecture and costumes are true fashion statements. This world is so dense with aggressiveness it is almost surreal. Borrowing from The Matrix and Blade, the director Len Wiseman made Underworld more of a goth action flick n less of a vampire/werewolf. Nonetheless pretty enjoyable action flick. Was happy that none of those hand held shaky cam stuff was added.

Leofwine_draca For starters, UNDERWORLD is a hugely derivative film, and that's one of the biggest things working against it. The vampire vs. werewolf plot might not be too familiar – after all it's been a long time since those Universal monster flicks – but most of the scenes in the film bear the influences of other, better films. For instance the vampire society/hierarchy recalls BLADE, the clothing/action recalls THE MATRIX, and even the scene in the car in which the werewolf guy is pushing spikes through the roof is a rip on TERMINATOR 2. Despite these lame moments and lapses of originality, and the fact that the film is saddled with an unlikeable heroine, UNDERWORLD ain't so bad. The story has a few interesting things to say and director Len Wiseman holds things together well, inserting lots of style into the proceedings; suddenly I'm not so disheartened about him directing DIE HARD 4, after all.The film is packed with shoot-outs and battles and, while Kate Beckinsale's two-pistol posturing is frankly embarrassing, the violent werewolf attacks are cool and the silver/daylight bullets add some fun to the events that play out. The script, although derivative again, flows along quite nicely and, aside from the central heroine, there isn't really much to dislike. I found this film to be efficient if unoriginal. There's quite a decent cast here, with newcomer Scott Speedman acquitting himself reasonably well as the human caught up in the chaos, and Michael Sheen stealing all of his scenes as chief werewolf, Lucian. Kate Beckinsale is sometimes good – in HAUNTED, for instance - but I couldn't stand her here; she's trying too hard to be 'cool' but never escapes the fact that her character is nothing more than a Trinity-from-THE-MATRIX knock-off.Elsewhere, Bill Nighy camps it up as an evil age-old vampire and Kevin Grevioux nabs the best character in the whole film, a hard-ass, hulking werewolf who redefines the meaning of cool. Sophia Myles looks stunning, and I couldn't help wishing that she'd taken the leading role instead of Beckinsale. As to be expected/hoped, the special effects are fantastic, with CGI work coming up trumps throughout. The werewolves themselves aren't great – they recall the fuzzy shapes in AN American WEREWOLF IN Paris a little too much – but the transformations are astonishing and the head-slicing at the end, while too much like BLADE, is a triumphant moment. The film is surprisingly gory for its rating/audience which is also a pleasant surprise, making it that bit more palatable for adult audiences. Followed by UNDERWORLD EVOLUTION, this is a fun flick, not a classic but a watchable film at least.