Film Reviews

Underworld

• Rating:
• Director: Len Wiseman.
• Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Shane Brolly, Michael Sheen, Bill Nighy, Erwin Leder, Sophia Myles.
• Details: US / 121 mins / (15PG).

In this overly earnest vampire and werewolves riff on 'Romeo and Juliet', Kate Beckinsale plays Selene, a vampire assassin whose dress sense indicates that she came as part of a discount package from 'The Matrix'. Her mission is to hunt down and kill Lycans (werewolves to you and me), who've been engaged in a bloody war with the bloodsuckers for the last 600 years. Assumed to be on the verge of defeat, the Lycans, led by Lucian (Sheen) have begun to hit back, and are building a fearsome army. Problem is, although Selene has seen the Lycans' strength first-hand, the lack of leadership exercised by vampire head honcho Kraven (Brolly) means that her fears aren't taken seriously. Throw in her suspicions that a mortal (Speedman) may have something to do with the final battle and you've got a whole host of trouble bearing down on our fanged friends. Director Len Wiseman may not know too much about the delivery or tone of a story, but his production design is immaculate, with 'Underworld' revelling in its world of heavy comic book imagery, a cross between Tim Burton's original 'Batman' movie and Ridley Scott's rain soaked 'Blade Runner' streets. Unfortunately, that's about as good as it gets in 'Underworld', for this is movie takes itself way too seriously and is one where style exists in a vacuum. Never likely to be confused with Meryl Streep, Beckinsale pouts her way through the film, failing to form anything resembling an emotional bond with the audience. Old reliables Sheen and Nighy do their best with the bewildering arcs which Wiseman thinks are characters, but there's too much confusion and uneven pacing to make 'Underworld' particularly compelling viewing. Still, 14-year-old boys will go mental for it.

Review by Garreth Murphy