I have a confession to make. I was not a fan of the first two Underworld movies. Or, more accurately, of what I saw of them. I rented both and turned both off because I found them quite dull, despite the fact that I did not find their star, Kate Beckinsale, to be dull at all.
So why did I even bother with the third film? There wasn’t much else playing and I wanted to see a movie, and I have a very strong weakness for vampire films, good, bad and ugly. Despite the star rating, I’m not sure that I can classify Underworld: Rise of the Lycans as a “good” movie, but I can say that I enjoyed far more the other two (of what I saw anyway). I can’t complain about the money, I spent on it, either, as it delivers exactly what you would expect from a movie with its title.
The first two pictures are not required viewing as it’s a prequel, so I didn’t feel that I walked in on the third installment of something. This is not to say that everything makes sense, because nothing makes sense in these movies. Set in the Middle Ages, the story revolves the revolt of werewolves (the Lycans) who enslaved by vampires. What the movie never explains is why the vampires would need to enslave anyone. What kind of resources do they need? They don’t need to eat, and since they are all strong, they should be able to do all the work they need themselves. Are they just lazy? If so, what do they do all night?
Anyway, one Lycan named Lucian (Michael Sheen) gets special treatment and falls in love with the vampire Sonja (Rhoma Mitra, in a strange coincidence bares a striking resemblance to Kate Backinsale). This creates problems as later starts to feel bad for the other werewolves, and he eventually escapes and ends up leading the other werewolves to revolt (hence the title). Among all this action, there is the love story between Sonja and Lucian, which is not boring but not moving at all. I don’t know how moved I could be by a werewolf\vampire romance, but I did wonder what there children would be like.
The movie is a success in the sense that the characters look cool (despite the fact the film has a strange digial grade), is not boring, and does not waste its story time. It doesn’t go on and on like the first films, nor does it have any gun fights. I mean, if vampires and werewolves were to have a war, would they fight it with GUNS?
I didn’t care about the characters or the plot, and found no deep message or human observation, but I can say that I was entertained, which is something that a whole lot of more ambitious movies fail to do. I can’t even say if fans of the first two pictures will like it, but I can say that it passed the test as a dumb, fun movie to see on Saturday night. Believe it or not, that is a virtue in of itself.
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans(2009)