Underworld (2003) Review:

Universal Studios’ classic monster movies from the early days of cinema continues to be one of those milestones that filmmakers look to inspiration for. Whether it’s creating new horror figures or working with already existing ones, werewolves and vampires have remained as one of those top types of monster classes. And while these creatures had their fair share of separate features, they did not often cross paths. But of course, once The Matrix (1999) came out along with “bullet time”, everyone wanted to try a film with this. Leave it to newcomer director Len Wiseman to make this happen by combining these two horror classes in one picture. With that, came the franchise fans couldn’t seem to get enough of, despite critics panning it. In order to like it though, one kind of has to be into the style and story.

The story penned originally by Kevin Grevioux and scripted by Danny McBride in his first theatrical credit is about a lengthy ongoing war between Lycans (Werewolves) and Vampires. While hunting Lycans led by Lucian (Michael Sheen), one of the vampires named Selene (Kate Beckinsale) sees them following a human named Michael (Scott Speedman). Curious as to why, she makes it her mission to find out what their plans are. Concurrently, Selene’s superior Kraven (Shane Brolly) tries to keep her from overstepping her place for soon the lead vampire Viktor (Bill Nighy) will awaken to finally crush the Lycans. For a premise, it seems entertaining enough but that’s pretty much where it stops, because there are equally bad parts for the good. It’s another surprise seeing that the film was successful, yet fails to impress all completely.

The acting in this film is acceptable. All actors give performances probably one would expect. The characters themselves though are the ones that come off odd. Beckinsale’s Selene has an interesting history, but why does it seem like she’s the only one hunting Lycans? All the other vampires under Kraven dwell in a fancy mansion sitting in fancy chairs. Is that all they do? They don’t seem to be in any centuries long war. The character who stands out as the most intriguing is Lucian. He seems the most enthusiastic about fighting the war between the factions and for good reason. That’s it though. Not even Scott Speedman playing the macguffin of the plot lends for any strong attention. He also plays a predictably written subplot to that of Beckinsale’s character.

Adding to these story clichés is the padded run time. The film just breaks two hours and somehow feels longer than that. If the film trimmed off at least twenty minutes, it would have been reasonably paced. Instead, scenes feel longer than necessary. Not to mention the decently shot action sequences matching very close to the slow motion shots filmed in other action movies. All those slow moving frames add up. The picture also ravishes in showing its viewers the set design, which is built very authentically. However, there’s a lack of variety. Much of the set pieces are of same locations over and over again. Let’s also not forget that there are no daylight scenes. The setting is always dark and rainy. Is this Earth this story takes place in or some other planet?

Camerawork was handled like it needed to be however. Tony Pierce-Roberts served as the director of photography and had also worked The Remains of the Day (1993) and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2001). Roberts also makes sure to show the audience a good amount of gore in case anyone was worried the R rating wasn’t fortified. Lastly, the score was composed by Paul Haslinger, who had scored films before, but would breakout here with this effort. While much of the work is more atmospheric, there are moments of thematic music that pops in every now and then. Perhaps the more standout components to Haslinger’s score is during the action scenes where the music kicks into gear with heavy percussion and synthetic clicks. It’s not a great score and works in some places, but overall not impressive.

Acting and camerawork are the best parts to this franchise starter. The premise itself is an idea, but the execution is slow in a number of places. Very few characters will get a viewer’s attention, the settings are majority singular and the music is more of a product of its time.

Points Earned --> 5:10