Rating: 
Summary: Leapin' Lycans
Review: Do not be led astray by the excellently edited theatrical preview for this film, it is neither a successful Matrix-esque actioner nor a star-crossed romance pic. It is, 'underneath it all' a blood feud movie between werewolves and vampires. It has more in common with 'West-Side Story' or an old mob movie than its oft compared 'Romeo and Juliet'. Though, on the surface, it is exactly 'Romeo and Juliet': Selene (Beckinsale) and Michael Corvin (Speedman) are in love and play for opposite teams. Their respective families are bound by the omnipresent 'covenant' to keep them apart. However, their romance is too underdeveloped and too unbelievable to serve as story. They share almost no dialogue with each other and have zero chemistry... what their attraction does lead to is the real story of the film, which is what's behind this thousand year feud between vampires and werewolves. And fortunately for us movie-goers, the answer to that question is entertaining enough to save this movie.If you can stick with the 'Undeworld' through the first half, you've pretty much got it made. The plot progresses ploddingly through varying degrees of action sequences set in noticeably digitally-enhanced sets. The action itself is sub-par, as Beckinsale seems clumsy with her weapons, and the slow-mo editing of all the acrobatics doesn't disguise well the fact that all the actors are connected to harnesses. The sequences are often over-long and timed irregularly. For example, I can suspend my disbelief enough to allow for a war between vampires and werewolves, but I can't believe that it would take three werewolves ten minutes to run down a ten foot long hallway. That said, once the halfway point hits and the actual story begins to unfold, the action (though still choppy) at least has some emotion invested in it. The plight of ... (I'll leave this blank so as not to spoil anything) ... is engaging and somewhat of a surprise. The apparent villains shift around from character to character until the final sequence in which every character seems to have a justifiable reason to be attacking/attacked. It all leads to a tremendous (if somewhat heavy handed) finale that rescues a two star movie and nearly boosts it up to a four star movie. Anyone looking for a good time will surely get it here, and anyone looking for a little more depth out of an action/horror/sci-fi can get it here too. Not many films in the past couple of months can claim the same.
Rating: 
Summary: Pick me up and let me fall....
Review: Thoughts : Too much hype, that is what I have to say about this movie. Hyde is right in stating that the movie is an ACTION movie with horror overtones, but unfortunately it is TOO much on the action front. Not that I totally dislike action flicks, but if I go to see a movie billed as a horror movie, that is what I expect.
Cast/Characters : Beckinsale is a tremendous actress, but not in this role. The word mousey comes to mind, no matter how much black leather she wears or how many guns she carries around. Give her some Shakespeare and see her true calling.
Story/Plot : I enjoyed the whole concept of the movie, that the battle has been waged for many years. It's always good to have the bad guys duking it out. Also making everything modern worked well, too. Pace : Very poor pace on this film. You would have this long, drawn out dramatic scene and just when it built up to it's peak BAM!, scene change. Far too much jumping from situation to situation.....even I got lost a few times in the movie. And HOW MANY FRICKIN' TIMES can we do a shot of Selene standing at a door and either pushing it open in the slow frame effect or just kicking it in? Oh my!
F/X : I enjoyed the special effects immensely! The changing of man to werewolf was well done and even the fight scenes (though just a few too many drawn out) were well done.
Rating : Pick me up and then let me fall. That is what I ended up feeling about this movie. This one gets a 2 star rating from me. Wait for video for sure....get the DVD to enjoy the effects but don't say I didn't warn ya! See what HYDE says about this movie at
http://horror-web.com
Rating:
Summary: Underrated by the critics
Review: This is a genre film that appeals to those of us who enjoy gothic fantasies -- of vampires and werewolves. Not so much derivative as developing the imagery of the genre. The story is about loyalty and betrayal, and the style is heavy action, very escapist. Kate Beckinsdale is beautiful and effective in this role. The visuals are dark but not tritely done -- well done. The plot moves fast, twists and surprises... Very good.
Rating: 
Summary: Underwhelm is more like it
Review: I really wanted to like this movie, a lot. First, it has Kate Beckinsale, who I have loved and followed ever since she appeared in "Cold Comfort Farm" (hopefully my wife understands). She's pretty, personable, and, in this film, very sexy looking. But for whatever reason the director fails to take advantage of her presence. As far as plot goes, apparently vampires and werewolves, or as they are called in the film, lycans, have been at war for centuries. Beckinsale is Selene, a vampire who specializes in hunting and killing lycans. Early in the movie, she discovers that lycans are tracking a human, Scott Speedman, but can't figure out why (and guess what, she's a very high tech vamp). Her curiosity causes her to come into conflict with the present leaders of the vampires and to, naturally, meet and fall in love with Speedman. As the story progresses, she uncovers a plot to overthrow the current vampire hierarchy and, in the one clever twist to the plot, also learns that she may have more in the common with the lycans than she thought. The film is beautifully shot in a blue tint, but for some reason, its almost constantly raining throughout the film. Apparently vampires don't have to worry about black mold problems in their homes. There also seem to be problems with the passage of time. It seems obvious that all the action is taking place over several days, but its always night throughout the film and we never get any indication that daylight has come and gone. It is also apparent that all the action is taking place in an old, unnamed European city (Budapest in reality), but apparently Americans are studying medicine there with no language difficulties. Speedman appears to be a med student and works at a hosptial with other Americans. The special effects are, well, not too special and the overall plot is just trying to be way too clever for its own good. The filmmakers clearly want to keep us guessing about exactly what is going on throughout the movie, but its obvious in watching the actors who is going to turn out to be a bad guy (a relative term in a film about werewolves and vampires). Moreover, other than Beckinsale, most of the acting is pretty bad. There are also plenty of illogical moments, particularly given the wealth of vampire lore with which most viewers would be familiar. At one point Speedman saves Beckinsale from drowning and essentially resusitates her. Excuse me, but aren't vampires pretty much immortal and capable of being killed by only a limited number of means? Last time I checked, drowning was not among them. And other than Beckinsale and a few other key characters, these have got to be some of the wimpiest vampires to appear on celluloid. The film also seems to strain against its budget, esspecially in the special effects department. Who would think that the old Lon Chaney, Jr. wolfman could be more convincing than modern CGI werewolves (at least I think it was CGI)? But that's exactly how I felt while watching this movie. Its too bad that they've squandered what could have been a very cool film by saddling it with a bad plotline and poor effects. Still, the film is worth viewing for the excellent cinematography and Kate Beckinsale. And get ready for "Underworld II" as the ending makes it clear someone is already planning on a sequel.
Rating: 
Summary: What an incredible piece of Junk....
Review: Wither it's Alien, Terminator, Blade, the Matrix, this film and all other films of this dark era genre type of picture. It's always the same. It's junk. It has a ton of fight scenes and CGI effects. No story, bad costumes, and sometimes a waste of talented actors when they could be doing movie roles with more substance to them. These so called film makers should stick to video games, MTV, and Kevin Smith films where all the other no talent people go.
Rating:
Summary: Prepare to be stupi-fied (no, not stupefied!)
Review: This may not be the dumbest movie, or the most poorly acted, but it comes close. The script may not be supremely dreadful, but it tries. Let's just say that Underworld gives Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes a run for its money in the "Just Plain Awful" department. Where to begin? The worst part of the movie is the acting. With the exception of Kate Beckinsale, who makes the most of a character as thinly drawn as a Saran wrap, the acting is gag-out-loud atrocious. Worst of the lot is the actor who portrayed Kraven (yes, that's really his name), a guy named Shane Brolly whose career, we can only hope, is over. To say that he's the worst of this sad lot means he needs to be run out of the business with a pointed stick. God, I don't want to waste anymore time writing a review of this trash. The music is loud--and bad. The writing is cliched--and bad. The cinematography is dark blue--and bad. And there are so many ripoffs from other films, including spare costumes from the Matrix, that you wish that audiences could file a class action lawsuit for paying good money for this cheap rip-off. Don't go.
Rating:
Summary: Good vampire action film, not the greatest.
Review: If you want to see gun blazing action between werewolves and vampires, Underworld delivers. However, I feel it is overshadowed by other vampire movies (Blade, Blade 2) which have far superior fight coreography and character developement. The werewolves are probably the most interresting part of the movie. The visual effects of their transformations are awe inspiring. The vampires seem to be whimpy. They don't have the superhuman powers normally posesses by vampires. They are strong, but where are the super senses? The stealth? In one scene one of the vampires stands in a beam of sunlight (?) and looks into a dark hole in the wall, unable to make out the werewolf hiding in the darkness. What's wrong with this picture? The beautifully sculpted Beckensale is hypnotic to watch in her skin-tight leather outfit. She does a good job acting the part and leading the film but she needs to play paintball a few times to learn how to move her hands like a real experienced gunfighter. The pistols she uses seem to have an unlimited suply of ammunition. They're fully automatic and can blast away for about a minute without a fresh magazine. I know a lot of firearms depicted in movies seem to have these "dream magazines," but to those of us who know a thing or two about firearms, it completely drains the illusionary world the film is trying to create.
All in all, it's a decent action vampire film with good visual effects. You might want to wait for the rental on this one.
Rating:
Summary: So Bad it's Great!
Review: Underworld! Oh dear! I'd heard it was mediocre at best from several people, but no one told me it is a comedy goldmine! I haven't laughed that hard at a movie since, oh, The Crow 2, perhaps. It wasn't quite as funny as Species or Anaconda, but it did give me fits of giggles several times. One of those times was during Michael's transformation scene, when we inexplicably got some sort of internal cam view,...! Another time was when the Garou, I mean Lycans, were galloping along the walls just like the dog alien in Alien3. I gleed aloud! Then there was that time when Kraven showed up, arrayed like Liberace in all his sequinned glory. I oohed loudly,... And then another time was during that fateful sword cut, but I mustn't give all the "good" parts away, right? The movie tries hard to be equal parts The Crow, Batman, and Matrix, all while obviously scooping generously from the heap of White Wolf supplements at its side. The end result is akin to Queen of the Damned meets An American Lycan Werewolf in Paris. It is a LARPers wet dream, where Toreadors languish moodily in gorgeous gowns and warrior women fight in leather corsets and shined-up scuba suits. Take that as you will
Rating: 
Summary: Killer thrill ride!!!
Review: This flick reminded me of Aliens II...........Not a dull moment on the screen from start to finish!!! If you liked to be entertained by Vampires, Werewolves slugging it out to the death with EXCELLENT special effects! This is it! Enjoy!!
Rating:
Summary: This movie is not horrible.
Review: I have read the reviews here and by the critics. Many of these reviews rate the movie badly. I disagree and urge others to consider several factors. One thing to remember about these reviewers is that many are overly critical nuts who have preconceived notions about the movie. They are so set on their ideas that they do not let the actors and directors tell their own story. They changed a few things about vampire and werewolf mythology, so what. That doesn't mean that the movie is horrible. Watch the movie with and open mind and you will probably enjoy it. Now, about the movie. It has great action sequences that anyone could enjoy. The story is not that hard to comprehend if you managed to graduate high school, and is really entertaining on several different levels. My advice, go see the movie and give it half a chance before you start ridiculing it.
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