Underworld DVD > Reviews > Fangs For The Mammories

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Advantages:	Good clean, throat - ripping, head rollin' fun .  Good no - brainer .
Disadvantages:	Barely functional acting, threadbare plot, drags in the middle, probably requires an acquired lack of taste to appreciate, that 'Matrix' feel again .  .  .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The world is at war...but no one knows it. At least, no one who walks in daylight. It is a war which has raged for a thousand years in the darkest of places, between the darkest of warriors plucked from the shadowy recesses of human nightmares and other-worldly dreamscapes. An ancient blood feud between vampires and werewolves is being played out under the very noses of the 'educated' masses who have long since convinced themselves these creatures are nothing but legends born of medieval fears. The greatest lie the Devil ever told...

Vampires and werewolves are changed. Goodbye neck-nibbling tortured souls, hello throat-ripping plague bearers in sexy black skin-tight leather. And I for one applaud the revamp...if you'll excuse the pun. This modern update to the old mythology gives rise to movies like Underworld - brain-on-hold entertainment in its purest form. Despite an unecessary volume of eyelid-sagging exposition around the mid-point(aka. laying the ground-work for a sequel or ten), you're left with nothing but fangs-out, gun-toting, balls-fer-ear-rings action. You'll either see it as enormous fun or brainless dross, I doubt there's too much middle ground to lay claim to here and I stand with both feet firmly planted in the former plot of unhallowed ground.

Underworld kicks off with a jumbled cacophony of audio/visual noise, ramping up the pace with quick-cuts and an adrenaline pumping heavy metal soundtrack and never lets it slacken off until it's time to let the voyeurs know what the heck is going on. Blood. Guns. Gore. Noise. You're left in no uncertain circumstances what you're in for - you'll either be tucking into the popcorn faster by then or switched over to Panorama - it's that kind of in-yer-face intro and it lays the foundations of more to come.

Without giving too much away, we're soon introduced properly to Selene (Kate Beckinsale), vampyric lycanthrope hunter extraordinaire and our heroine for the next two hours. Selene uncovers a plot between the head of her own vampire clan and that of the werewolves which involves a human with an interesting family tree. This plan could put them all in jeopardy so Selene takes matters into her own hands, awakening a somewhat miffed ancient vampire lord and playing hide and seek with their human target until things get figured out. Easier said than done...

Visually, this movie is distinctly reminiscent of the cult classic "The Crow" mixed with the techno-stylistic overtones of "Blade" with the obligatory nod towards "The Matrix" in both action sequences and wardrobe. If you liked any, some or all of those movies, then you'll probably find something to like here too. By riding on the coat-tails of others it loses something from each but Underworld still provides enough in terms of raw action and inventiveness to stand firmly enough on its own two hairy feet.

The events unfold in a monochrome world under swollen skies and rainswept city streets with pseudo-gothic imagery giving the feel of a bleak, colourless world within our world. First time director Len Wiseman goes for the style over substance approach to his initial outing and for the most part, it works in a broody, miserable kinda way - just don't expect too many smiles along the way. His cast of actors do a reasonable job with an often embarrassing script and ocassionally preposterous situations but to be fair they are never the real focus of the proceedings anyway. Setting a mood and then ripping it apart with blood fangs, claws and bullets is where it's at and it does so with unabashed gusto.

Conceptually, this kind of movie always rocks in my eyes. Where they usually crash and burn is in the special effects department. Vampires are pretty easy to get right. Shove in some fake fangs and a set of contact lenses and you're well on the way. Werewolves on the other hand typically make miserable failures on screen. Some guy falling down behind the sofa and then jumping up covered in lint doesn't cut it, nor does the kind of painting by numbers computer graphics effects rolled out in trash like An American Werewolf in Paris. I'm almost shocked to save Underworld gets it half right. Bone crunching on-screen transformations combined with some half-decent CGI effects where needed means you can almost forgive the lack of 'weight' and ethereal quality all CGI creations seem to always possess.

Fans of blood and gore will not be disappointed by any of this. When this movie goes for the jugular it doesn't hold back. Jaws crack and nails explode during the lyncanthropic transformation sequences, blood and hair splatters as bullets rip into the protagonists and heads go a rollin'. Nothing too nasty, just your usual level of good, clean, society-destroying Hollywood fun.

Underworld has a comic book feel to it at times. I suppose with the subject matter it always would but it doesn't detract. The storyline isn't half bad either for this kind of thing (Shakespeare it ain't), even if it does all come at once in a protracted central splurge which drops the pace down to a crawl for far too long. Were this removed and the movie made half an hour shorter, it wouldn't have suffered too much from it but you aren't going to be propping up your eyelids either so it's all good.

With movies like Underworld, anything other than the action itself is almost inconsequential anyway and for the most part Underworld manages to ring all the right bells. If you like the sound of a loud, super-kinetic, hyper-stylised movie about vampires and werewolves fighting it out on a broody, rain soaked techno-gothic canvas then this is for you. If not, then I doubt there are any hidden depths which might make you change your mind.

Personally, I loved it and can't wait for the inevitable sequel.