Underworld: Evolution Review [2]
Posted by Chris McCarver on 01.25.2006
My first review of the year begins not with a bang or a whimper, but with a "meh."
UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION
Starring Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Tony Curran, Derek Jacobi, Steven Mackintosh, and Bill Nighy
Directed by Len Wiseman
Distributed by Screen Gems and Lakeshore Entertainment
Rated R for pervasive strong violence and gore, some sexuality/nudity and language
Release Date: January 20, 2006
Runtime: 1 hr., 45 min.
Review by CHRIS McCARVER
Alas, poor Underworld. You were a so-so bit of action porn, a confusing but serviceable send-up of the vampire genre, you gained some fans and detractors due to your seeming cut-and-paste job from a popular role-playing game. You didn't do great, but you did... okay. But you couldn't be happy with that, no... you had to call back the cast and crew for yet another ride through blood-soaked Eastern Europe, didn't you? With a heavy sigh, I thus bring the 411 readers my review of Len Wiseman's sophomore effort in this wannabe franchise, Underworld: Evolution. Kate "Mrs. Wiseman" Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, and a sizeable member of the original cast return also; let us pull back the black veil now see if it was worth the freezing cold and the frozen craft-service donuts.
Picking smack up immediately after the first film, we find vampire "death-dealer" Selene (Beckinsale) and vampire/werewolf hybrid Michael Corwin (Speedman) still on the run after Selene has discovered that the vampire coven of which she belonged was a den of deception. Little does Selene know that, by awakening Markus (Tony Curran, Flight of the Phoenix), the vampire race's progenitor, her former coven doesn't really exist anymore, since Markus basically eviscerates the whole lot into piles of cherry syrup and vampire tartare.
As we're told in an opening flashback, Markus' twin brother William was the progenitor of the Lycan (werewolf) race, and was imprisoned by vampire warlord Viktor (Bill Nighy, reprising his role from the first movie) for basically being a mad-dog killing machine. With Viktor and the coven out of the way (thanks largely to Selene), Markus is free to seek out his beloved brother, and he isn't above leaving some nasty-looking corpses in his wake.
The key to Markus' location lies deep within Selene's memories, which will be a snap for Markus since he has the ability to read minds by drinking another's blood. (Nice trick, that.) So now, Selene and Michael's quest for survival becomes a quest for answers about Selene's past, with Markus perpetually on the hunt. Along the way, they find aid from an exiled vampire historian (The Jacket's Steven Mackintosh) and a mysterious elder (acclaimed British actor Sir Derek Jacobi) with ties to both the vampire and Lycan races.
One thing I will commend Underworld: Evolution for is its attention to continuity. None of the parts from the first film were recast, even if only to appear as corpses or getting a mere five minutes of screentime before becoming so. In most ways, Evolution feels like an organic continuation of the first movie, as though both were shot at the same time and simply released in seperate volumes a la Kill Bill.
Unfortunately, it's the strong ties to the first film that may alienate newbies to the Underworld metaplot, since this movie contains a ghastly number of references to events and situations from its predecessor. A startling number of flashbacks alleviate this problem marginally, but I still found myself re-watching my fiancee's DVD of the first film for points on which I wasn't initially clear. One would think a movie light on plot and heavy on gunplay and stunt sequences wouldn't pose such an issue, but Underworld is fairly intricate in its mythos, which sadly leads to a lot of confusion if viewers don't fit the die-hard fan mold.
Also of note is this movie's comparatively much higher level of gore and sexual content. Not that I personally shy away from such things, but if you're one of those rare breed of parents who has no problem letting your kids watch horror movies such as this, consider yourself forewarned. The level of hack-and-slash is definitely more immense this time around, including one character getting the top half of his head torn off and a rather gooey scene involving a helicopter rotor blade.
Acting-wise, the cast doesn't do all that bad. Scott Speedman's Michael appears to have grown a spine since the first movie and gets do more than follow Selene around like a puppy on a leash. And speaking of Selene, Beckinsale gets to do a bit of the vulnerable with her PVC-clad vampire while still getting in the chop-socky and busting of the caps she made famous in the original movie. Tony Curran's Markus was also serviceable, having chosen to go for the more subdued level of evil, at least when he's not completely made up with bat wings and demonic prosthetics. And Derek Jacobi exuded royalty and authority whenever on screen whether defending his convictions to the end or spending some time in a vampire morgue. (And yes, he does that.)
The 411: Underworld: Evolution isn't a great movie, and it has its fair share of flaws as well as more than a few plot holes. It's a nicely made action romp, but its ties to the first movie and often confusing storyline drops a few points off the must-see scale. Fans of the first film should enjoy this continuation of the Underworld mythos, but newcomers have a choice: see the first movie beforehand to get some insight into Evolution, or skip it altogether.
