Rating: 
Summary: Underworld is Crazy
Review: If you think this looks cool, go see it. I'm not going to give this away, but the movie does get better as it unfolds. In fact, it's ... a political power play which keeps you guessing. The characters of Viktor by Bill Nighy and Erika by Sophia Myles are the better vampire performances in a decade. Viktor is a true badass and Erika is a cunning goddess. The story twists and turns; the ending was left open. Most of the actors and actresses are British, so it has a different flavor than say Blade or Queen of the Damned.
Rating: 
Summary: unbelievely stupid
Review: This movie, while it had some promise, failed miserably to deliver. The story of vampires fighting werewolves was resonable enough, even though werewolves do seem to have the advantage of daylight. This is the first movie that I have seen that have made werewolves thinking creatures. In vampire mythology, they have no reflection, do not cast a shadow, have superior hearing and sight and incredible strength. Not in this version.
It turned out to be a love story. Part one of a love story.
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie, but not exactly what I expected
Review: I had been looking forward to the release of this movie all summer long, and it was a great movie! It was just a little different from what I had thought it would be.The movie, as most of you probably know, is about a war that has been going on between werewolves and vampires. And it is THIS that is the primary focus of the plot (as opposed to the vampires and werewolves themselves). The werewolves have been researching their bloodlines and discovered a human who shares a common ancestor with both the werewolves and the vampires. The werewolves seek out this human, and this is noted by Selene (Kate Beckinsale), who decides to make it her mission to discover the importance of this particular human. Unfortunately, the writers decided not to delve too deeply into vampire and werewolf lore. I was pretty disappointed by the fact that the supernatural abilities of these supernatural beings were not really emphasized. Instead, the writers chose to merely stick guns in the hands of the vampires and werewolves. In addition, the mythology was slightly different from what I've read and seen before in previous vampire and werewolf books and movies. I don't necessarily have a problem with that, but if you are going to change things from what people are used to, then it should be explained in slightly more detail. Another thing that was a little disappointing were the effects. The previews led me to believe that the movie would be comparable to the "Matrix" in that department. Unfortunately, the best effects (with the one exception of the werewolf transformations) were all shown in the previews. All of this aside, the movie was still pretty incredible. The plot was exceptional, which is not necessarily always the case with most action movies, and the action kept me entertained throughout the movie's entirety. The make-up and costumes were also outstanding, as was the acting. I actually saw this movie twice, and the second time around (once I got over the intial let-down of it being slightly different from what I expected) it was MUCH better. I anxiously await the sequel (and based on how the movie ended, there WILL be a sequel) as well as the DVD release!
Rating:
Summary: Very dark and a great story line - the two hours flew by!!
Review: This is a great movie. I'm not sure it is one of the best movies of this type ever made, but it is VERY good. It starts out by prefacing the war between the Lycans and Vampires over the centuries and brings you into the modern day world. There appears to be some hope in combining the blood lines of each species to create a super species, stronger together than each alone. This movie also explores, very nicely I might add, how the "war" unfolded and kind of reminded me of the "Seventh Sign" where the flashbacks deal with what is happening in the current day. This movie is filled with deceptions, decadence and subplots galore. There is a power struggle between the two leading Vampire females for control of the coven. There is struggle between the Lycan warriors. There is a power struggle between Craven, the current vampire coven leader and Victor, the resurrected ancient vampire leader. There is enough action to keep it moving along nicely. The music was very dark, brutal and a true showing of what goth music is all about. Although the theatre I was in had it almost too loud, a pair of light plugs might have been in order. All in all, I don't see why people are knocking this film. Maybe they got them selves overhyped. Some critics have also compared this to the Matrix: Reloaded. They couldn't be more wrong. This movie stands on its own and it's well worth the two hours and you'll leave wishing you had either of the powers shown in the movie. I guess that's what the director's had intended. :)
Rating:
Summary: Better than I expected
Review: Ok, to start off, I'm not going to bag on this movie for not having better developed characters, nor will I complain about the changes in the "monster mythology". Intead, I'd like to focus on its high points. I must admit, for a low-budget movie, $22 million if I remember correctly, this was definately a quality movie. I came into the theater expecting it to be a Romeo and Juliette, let's kill some werewolves, slapped together movie, but I came out impressed with how there was so much more to this well thought out plotline than met the eye. And, for it's budget, it had some really well done special effects. Granted, some people may complain about the acting, but I really didn't find that much of a problem with it. I do wish it would have explained more of the background, but it was definately left open for sequels, so maybe they'll cover that in those. So before you decide to just wait for it to come out on DVD, give it a chance and see it in the theaters, and even though it isn't the greatest movie of all time, it's been better than most movies I've seen in the past few months, and it makes for an enjoyable experience.
Rating:
Summary: Whoa!
Review: Where do I sign up to be bitten? Interesting movie--great, GREAT cinematography and costumes. If Kate Beckinsale didn't own you before she will now. Judging from the ending, a sequel is inevitable. Hopefully the plot holes (and there were many) will be ironed out for the sequel. Good clean Gothic fun.
Rating:
Summary: Felt more like a ploit,
Review: Now here is a movie I have been waiting for : A vampire vrs. werewolf movie done right !
I am not gonna say anything about the plot ,all except that it was good. Yet , as one reviewer had said "they didn`t have enough time for the story ". I am in full agreement with that . Despite being two hours this movie felt like it should have been longer. It`s goal was the action , but it had such a great story that more attention to it would have been nice. I agree about the whole character development as well. There wasn`t much . But through out the entire movie I couldn`t help but think that this was just some ploit of things to come .
I do hope a 2nd movie will appear in the future . Maybe it will have what the first one was missing (think X-men.).
Rating:
Summary: Really bites the big one.
Review: Vampires, werewolves, black leather, heavy metal music, jumping from high places, and walking down hallways very dramatically. That's about all you can say for Underworld. A kind of new idea (though still quite cliched) but this film turned out to be a Blade/Matrix wannabe. Everyone wears tight black leather with long black trench coats and guns with weird bullets. And so begins the vampire vs. werewolf war! For hundreds of years the vamps and lykens (werewolves) have been at war. The head of each group have been at each others throat forever and now the fight is more important than ever. The lykens are searching for a human that holds the blood that can be used to mix both species to create a very powerful beast. That's most of the plot right there. The rest of the movie looks to be a way to show off special effects and just how many times they can open the double doors with one motion (which is a lot!). Kate Beckinsale did do a show a good performance but that's about it. The movie really fell short of my expectations. There's not much else I can say, a lot of corny lines and actions (but it is a vampire movie so you can't blame it too much), and a whole two hours of disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Good update...
Review: Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman play opposing sides of a war. Think of it as a cross between 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Dracula'. More on the 'Dracula' side, though. Vampires and werewolves have been at war for the better part of 1500 years, though we are not sure why until the flashbacks begin. Good story, acting, and CGI effects.
But what I found most fascinating about the movie is how updates are made to the mythologies of vampires and werewolves. Example: vampires do reflect in mirrors. A lot of people will hate such a change, but I think such changes help make the monsters scarier. Because this makes them more difficult to distinguish from 'us'. A good combination of action and horror.
Rating: 
Summary: strange but watchable
Review: It was fairly easy to guess that this wasn't going to be the must-see that its trailer promised, but Underworld is at least a little more substantial than, oh, about 80% of the big summer blockbusters I've had the misfortune to sit through this year. I'll give it that, anyway.. The main word that sprang to mind after seeing it was... well, 'odd'. Odd that anyone would make the choices they made in editing, in casting, in scripting and plot, after all the obvious work that has gone into backstory for this particular fantasy world. The trailer, surely one of the most enticing for a long time, remains a vision of what this film could have been - and I'm convinced this would have been pretty good, had a decent script editor and film editor been let near it before release. What struck me somewhere near the end was the sheer *laziness* that went into the promo line quoted in every review: "Romeo and Juliet with vampires and werewolves". Right. Has anyone quoting that line: a) have any knowledge of Shakespeare's plot in one of its hundred incarnations or b) actually watched Underworld? The emotional heart of this film is fairly cold, distant, and pretty damn unromantic. I have never seen anything so sold as having a major romantic element, and so absolutely shying away from the subject. Its not so much done badly so much as not done at all; I have never seen anything less like a grand romance in my life!! Just a warning... Still, there's fun to be had in spotting the movies that director Len Wiseman liked in the past few years... As much as Matrix paid homage to Dark City stylistically, so Underworld sneaks in as many little Matrix tributes as it can reasonably manage (the modem-sound backing music, the old-fashioned phone ring, all those long black leather coats, a lobby-scene wannabe, yada yada yada). Kinda cute, in a way... sadly, these are more like the original Matrix than the overblown Reloaded could manage, but that's another story altogether... Like most of the lead characters, Kate Beckinsdale is pretty much wasted playing Selene,the kinda vamp Buffy could stake in her sleep.. never have vampires been so.. well, useless, as they are here! Jumping off tall buildings gracefully and firing guns are pretty much all their talents, but the Lycans get to do all that and way, way more. Bit of a shame, really. Beckinsdale goes for an 'Angel without the wisecracks' performance, which just adds to the general gloom - the character really is weak - and irritatingly stupid on occasion. Scott Speedman coasts through looking dazed and confused, while the actor playing Kraven manages to wreck every scene he's in - and that's quite a few - by being the only American vampire in a cast of Brits. Thats all well and good, but his clenched teeth acting and strange, strange accent contrived to make me cringe whenever he showed up. Near the end, he lapses into an odd Scottish accent (shades of the embarrassingly bad Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle at that point) which just serves to confuse more... weird. Kudos to Bill Nighy, even if he does pretty much sleepwalk through the role of Viktor, and especial praise to Michael Sheen, who can console himself from getting dumped by the leading lady with the thought that he pretty much carried the movie. Great actor, the only character with any depth, and a joy to watch. Interesting... All in all, it's a film thats been marketed better than its been put together, but the sheer amount of potential there drags it through. It's damn good to look at most of the time (it may help if you turn your brain off during most of the plot exposition; it's less painful that way) and if immortals in leather coats and fabulous dresses with lots of guns are your idea of fun, you can't go far wrong here. In my humble opinion, it's more watchable than most of the films I've sat through this year (Yes, that's you, Matrix Reloaded, Charlie's Angels 2, Tomb Raider 2, X-Men2 and the excruciating Daredevil). It's a shame that it sacrifices an ending to what amounts to a plea for a sequel (and a sad little plea at that) but the SFX are impressive and there are flashes of brilliance throughout. No, it doesn't live up to the trailer, but here's hoping they greenlight a sequel that actually learns from its mistakes...!
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