January 21, 2006
Review - Underworld: Evolution
This might be surprising, but I saw Underworld: Evolution on opening day. Ostensibly I wanted to ogle Kate Beckinsale, but in truth, I have to admit that I actually was pleasantly surprised by the first movie and had been looking forward to the sequel for some time.
I didn’t see it when it was in the theatres, instead only catching it on the TiVo — yes, for the sole purpose of ogling Kate Beckinsale. I hadn’t heard very many good things about it, so instead of sitting down to watch it from start to finish, I just caught it in bits and pieces at a time when I had a spare moment. To my surprise, I found myself swept up in it. The action wasn’t all that impressive, especially in a post-Matrix action-film landscape. Indeed, several key fight scenes were over just when you thought they were going to begin. But the plot, while not exactly Hitchcockian, was far more interesting and unpredictable than in your run-of-the-mill action flick. It featured several scenes that I thought I had pegged but ended up going in a different direction than I had expected. And it was all backed with a rich mythology that felt like it had depth well beyond what we were shown. I was looking forward to seeing this history fleshed out in the sequels.
So it is to my great disappointment to have to say that the sequel is pretty much the converse of the first one. Good action scenes, but an absolute joke of a plot.
Underworld depicted a vampire society that had grown complacent as it was dominating in its war against the werewolves (called lycans), and thus did not notice the lycans were growing in power to even the odds. The story effectively placed vampire Selene (Beckinsale) in sticky predicaments whose resolutions were not easily predictable and which got even more complicated as it became less clear who her enemies and allies were among a field of characters whose motivations and mysterious pasts were only revealed gradually (and I found Lucian and Viktor particularly fascinating, helped by the impressive presence exuded by actors Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy).
At first, it seems that the sequel would carry on in a similar vein, as it’s unclear at first who the main adversary is going to be, and the identity of one of the major players is not revealed until late in the film. But the resolutions of these questions are disappointingly mundane. And nothing is done to build upon the history and mythology woven by the first film, seemingly overlaying new historical details over the old, essentially ignoring much of the developments of the first film to create a new cliche-ridden story.
Especially because key characters from the first film (like Raze and Erika) are nowhere to be seen in this installment — and with no explanation. Indeed, the fact that this is an epic war between races is hardly apparent as we don’t see any of either army. The movie instead focuses purely on Selene and Michael racing against and then battling a powerful new adversary. I’ve seen numerous Buffy episodes with a far more interesting plot. The feeling you got that the first film was but a small piece of an ambitious larger whole quickly evaporates and you are left with the sense that sequel did not go in the direction intended by the original. And left wondering whether the absence of Kevin Grevioux from the story credits (and cast) has anything to do with it.
That being said, although it sets its sights far lower than the first film, it’s still pretty well executed. The acting is not bad. Derek Jacobi steps in to do a nice job in the role of the new mysterious character. Tony Curran does well as elder vampire, Marcus, but his performance suffers in comparison to Nighy’s in the first film (and from the fact that the first film over-hyped his eventual introduction). Beckinsale and Speedman do fine in the leading roles, but the first film required much more emotional subtlety of Beckinsale. And yes, she still looks mighty fine in that sexy tight-fitting outfit. And yes, there’s the love scene where you finally see her out of the costume — but alas, due to strategically placed limbs and creative camera angles, you don’t get to see any of the yummy parts. Don’t say I didn’t warn you (the scene is still pretty hot, though).
And as I mentioned earlier, the action is far improved. It’s still not quite Matrix or Crouching Tiger caliber, but it’s considerably closer. And the climax of the film provides you with a genuinely suspenseful, exciting, and yes, climactic scene — a huge improvement over the anticlimactic finish of the first film. The effects are also top-notch, immersing you believably in this world (except perhaps for a weak moment or two). The stylish look of the first is still there as well. But the combat is hampered greatly by a weakness shared by the first one: most of the battles occur between monsters whose capabilities are not fully known to the viewer. So instead of seeing fights with tactical storylines that ebb and flow as the combatants attack and parry, we instead see fights where it’s simply not revealed which beast has the superior strength and/or abilities until the winner emerges. It’s still exciting in the sense that the viewer doesn’t know the outcome, but it feels more akin to a pre-determined wrestling match than a sporting event where the outcome was ever in doubt.
So in a nutshell, if you want to watch a fun action film with a little more skin, a lot more action, and a lot less plot than the predecessor, this is your film (I expect that’s true of most of the target audience). It’s also a good film for action-film buffs who haven’t seen the first film (as I said, it does little to further the storyline and despite that, they still fill in first-timers with a preponderance of flash-back shots along with some expository voice-overs to boot). But if you thought the first film was a pleasant surprise due to the characters and storyline and are looking forward to more, be prepared to be greatly disappointed.
Overall rating: 6 out of 10 cute smiley fishies.
