Review: Underworld

Rated R | 121 mins

Vampires, meet the werewolves. Werewolves, meet the vampires. Now, you two, fight. Fight. Fight.

That’s the formula that I expected that Underworld would follow, walking into it. Thankfully, it’s a lot more creative and ingenious than that. The story is like a Shakespearean throwback plus the jumpy feel of a video game, a psychologically violent and grim tale of a long-lasting war between two different types of monsters, chocked full of action. It may sound silly, but hey, I liked it for what it was.

After a conventional opening skit, we’re introduced to our heroine, Selene (Kate Beckinsale), a female death-dealer, helping the vampires in trying to exterminate the race of lycans, also known as werewolves. The two different species have actually been battling for 1,000 years, to be exact. She soon becomes interested in Michael (Scott Speedman), a human who the lycan and vampire leaders are conspiring to capture. However, when she develops feelings for him and objects to what the two leaders are trying to do, she prematurely awakens the ancient vampire head Viktor (Bill Nighy). What’s admirable about Underworld is that there’s quite a bit of plotting involved in its contents. It’s not completely about the incoherent action, and this is pleasant, to say the least.

The thing that I find most amazing about it is that the script is actually pretty solid, even though it does contain some pretty lame dialogue. There’s true potential here, and for the most part, it’s acted upon. The problem with Underworld lies in its running length. Clocking in at just over two hours, it could stand to lose thirty minutes of excess material, easily.

For Kate Beckinsale, this role has blown her up. Even though she’s not particularly profound in the movie, it will land her the successful career that she deserves.

A sequel and a prequel to Underworld will be released in 2005. We can only hope that they will be an improvement on this divertingly fun and interesting, but overly long and uneasy original. I am excited for their releases, with some reservations.