Underworld
Directed by: Len Wiseman
Written by: Len Wiseman, Kevin Grevioux, Danny McBride
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Shane Brolly, Michael Sheen, Sophia Myles, Kevin Grevioux

There have been a lot of movies coming out recently involving vampires, and also a lot of movies that have tried to copy the dark, high-tech visuals of The Matrix.So what is it that sets Underworld apart from all these other films that usually end up beingall style and no substance? To be honest, not a heck of a lot.

The good news is that although Underworld is not the most original piece of work, it does have decent cinematography and art design. It may be a knockoff, but at least it doesn’t look like a cheap knockoff. The high quality look of the movie is no doubt a result of former art director Len Wiseman being at the helm. Wiseman is smart enough to avoid relying on CGI too much, and as a result many of the effects like the werewolf transformations look believable and impressive. The lighting andsets are also detailed and atmospheric with a soft pallette of light blues and blacks.

What was most surprising was the fact that Underworld also manages to tell a coherent story for the most part. The basic idea (which they have been accused of stealing from the roleplaying games Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse) is that the vampires and lycans (short for lycanthrope, fancy word for werewolves) have been at war with each other for about 1000 years now (which isn’t really all that long for a species that is immortal actually). The movie takes the side of the vampires, and that probably explains why they aren’t more bad ass — they are portrayed as little more than humans with guns who bite people’s necks. The lycans on the other hand metamorphisize into hulking beasts when the moon is full. Still, they are each looking for ways to gain the upperhand through weapons and technology, and as we know, both species have their special weaknesses. When it is discovered that the lycans are hunting down a specific human, the vampires are baffled and worried. Selene (Kate Beckinsale), one of the vampire’s death dealers, begins to unravel the mystery behind it all, and she becomes suspicious of a conspiracy within her own clan. Then she falls in love with this mysterious human, who has been marked by a lycan. Too bad for her, their love is forbidden. So tragic!

This is where the “Romeo & Juliet” angle comes into play. Commercials claimed that Underworld was a retelling of Romeo & Juliet, but rest assured that was no more than a marketing ploy. The resemblances are pretty thin, and there’s certainly no Shakespearean prose to be heard. Still, aside from some minor pacing problems, I really don’t have anything bad to say about the story either.

The acting in the movie was focused and pretty adequate. Kate Beckinsale is good, although her role requires very little emotion. The camera can’t get enough close-ups of her… maybe this is because Len Wiseman is married to her. Other actors and actresses also did well, despite some dialogue that probably could have gone either way. The only one I really had a problem with was Shane Brolly, who played the head vampire Kraven. He seemed to resemble Henry Rollins a little more than a vampire should, and he just was not suave and sophisticated enough for the part.

The loud and obnoxious nu-metal soundtrack is prevalent throughout a few scenes in the movie, but even that wasn’t enough to turn me off.

In fact, the only real complaint I have is that there were too many damn doors being opened all the time! I read something about this in another review as well, and it’s just a meaningless quirk that you can’t help but notice. Almost every new scene opens with a shot of someone banging or kicking open a door. It gets a little repetitive after a while, and unless there’s some special significance to it I really think they could have trimmed some of that stuff in editing.

I gotta say, I thought this movie would stumble right out of the blocks in its attempt to to have attitude and style, but Len Wiseman actually pulls it off rather gracefully. While it’s not necessarily an inspired masterpiece, or a movie that I will remember for years to come, I did enjoy it for what it was. Who knows, I might even want to see it again when the DVD comes out! Whether or not I will want to see the inevitable sequel… well that’s a whole different story. — Sean