Underworld Review:

Underworld is an action packed film that pivots Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” in the world of Vampires and werewolves. The two races have been at war with one another for centuries, with the Vampires being more civilized or aristocratic, and the werewolves, called Lycans in this film, being more of the gruesome thug figures. The war between the two involves more than one first perceives, with a lot of the fighting being over genetics, but hatred as well.

Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is a elite Death Dealer in the Vampire class, which means she is part of a group that are in charge of tracking and taking out Lycans one by one. However, she learns that the Lycans have taken an interest in a young medical student named Michael (Scott Speedman) for some reason. Her discovery does not sit well with the Vampire leader Kraven (Shane Brolly), but soon learns that he is a central component in the Lycans plans. As Selene finds and protects Michael, the two begin to feel for one another, even though he is actually a Lycan. As the war ensues, their relationship grows as one that is forsaken by both clans.

The idea for Underworld is very genuine with Kate Beckinsale kicking major butt as Selene, but the film falls apart with its jumbled secrets and dragging moments. Director Len Wiseman created the film as a video game, with tons of action, many stunts, and a dark gothic look throughout. However, the chemistry between the two leads Beckinsale and Speedman never arises, and the film becomes so “conspiracy theory” serious that it never really gets very fun. Numerous subplots and characters arise that are never totally answered, but are more so left open for a sequel to be pursued. Wiseman also does away with the originality of Vampires and werewolves, or Lycans in history. His Vampires have reflections and are killed in different ways, not just by a stake through the heart, garlic or a cross. The werewolves are a little puppetry looking and can change into their true forms anytime they want to, but they must be “the more powerful ones” to do so. The two fight one on one at times, but more so shoot at one another with different types of bullets, which use ultraviolet or silver nitrate.

Underworld is a visually abstract film, but the story and pacing of the film falters, even though Kate Beckinsale’s presence is a treat to endeavor.

Picture & Audio

The film is very dark, with all of it taking place at night and mostly in the rain. However, the film is seen clearly through all the darkness, though some of the dark corridors and underground shots could have been drowned if the film was not transferred to disc as well as it was.

The sound of the disc is presented effectively in Dolby 5.1. Underworld has a lot of action throughout the film, and the detail of bullets firing among other things sounds terrific. The werewolves also make a lot of growling noises throughout the film that are picked up clearly and sounds great with any sound system.

Extras

Audio Commentaries
• Director Len Wiseman and Writers Danny McBride & Kevin Grevioux
• Creature Designer Patrick Tatopoulos, Visual Effects Supervisor James McQuaide and Sound Designer Claude Letessier

Featurettes
The featurettes include “The Making of Underworld,” “Creature Effects,” “Sights and Sounds,” and “Stunts.” All can be play together as one reel, or each selected individually. “The Making of Underworld” is a mediocre behind the scene featurette that has interviews with the cast and crew and talking about how intriguing this film is. Co-writer Kevin Grevioux gives some insight as to why he brought in genetics into the plot, and director Len Wiseman talks about how Underworld is a action picture, not a horror picture. Bill Nighy also gives some insight into his prosthetic suit worn as the early awaken Viktor. The “Creature Effects” portion contains interviews with Wiseman and Creature Designer Patrick Tatopoulous. Wiseman speaks about how he want people in suits as the werewolves and that he did not want to have total CG. This portion also goes into to details of the early designs of the werewolves. The “Sight and Sounds’ portion is just a montage of different moments of the film with a music track behind it. This is the dullest section of all the features. The “Stunts” portion explains and shows the wirework done by Kate Beckinsale in the film. Wiseman also speaks throughout this section along the film’s stunt coordinator Brad Martin. This section relies mostly on showing the actors, their stunt doubles and the ample amount of wirework used throughout the production.

Storyboard Comparison
A storyboard to film comparison feature, which is composed of the gothic look, the costumes, the characters, and weapons of the film.

Trailers
This section contains the theatrical trailer for Underworld as well as two TV spots. Additional trailers include John Carpenter’s Vampires, John Carpenter presents Vampires: Los Muertos, Resident Evil, and a teaser for Resident Evil 2: Apocalypse. There is also a music video of “Worms of the Earth” by Finch in this section.

Overall

Underworld has a great concept to it with a war between werewolves and Vampires, with a twist of Shakespeare, but the film ultimately stumbles and falls. The choices of changing the usual genre twists into a more action oriented film, centered on genetics and weapons hurt the film more than it makes it supposedly cool. The whole “Romeo and Juliet” concept is never elaborated on, and there is absolutely no chemistry between the two lovers played by Beckinsale and Speedman. The DVD itself has commentaries with the creators of the film and the featurettes give insight into the production. The creation of the werewolves is the most interesting segment on the entire disc. The DVD is also contains trailers of past Vampire films, as well as a first look at the Resident Evil sequel. The DVD is more like the film, has quality, but does not have any spark.

The Film: C
Video Quality: B+
Audio Quality : A-
Extra Features: C

DVD as a whole: C

Joseph C. Tucker

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