Underworld

An immortal battle for supremacy between vampires and werewolves is raging. Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is a vampire warrior sworn to destroy the werewolves, who finds herself doubting her leaders when she encounters Michael (Scott Speedman) a human. The movie starts with an action packed shoot out in a subway where we find the vampires hunting down werewolves who are in turn hunting Michael for reasons unkown.

It would be very easy to pass over this movie as another Matrix bandwagon jumper, but really I think we all have to get over that. The Matrix brought in a new style of cinematography and styling; subsequent films aren't ripping it off any more than film noir was taken up as a dominant style of it's time. What the Matrix did was introduce a new genre (or amalgam of genres), and Underworld, like Equilibrium before it, is a film within that genre. Ok now I’ve got that off my chest on with the review…

The fight scenes in the subway and in general do have a very familiar feel and obviously nod to the likes of the Matrix and Blade. They are well done however, and don't distract us from the story, unlike too many other movies which seem to rely on effects to get them by. The effects and styling go a long way towards creating a coherent, believeable universe for its characters to inhabit. Perhaps Underworld spends a little too long on exposition and scene-setting for some peoples liking, personally I like the fact that most things are eventually explained, such as the origins of vampires and of werewolves. Underworld also manages to keep it's story unbiased, whether you're a vampire lover or a werewolf fanatic you can easily go to the film without being disappointed at how your side are portrayed. Sure there is still a lot left unexplained, but you can only cram so much story into a two hour movie... and they had to leave some space for the action and the obligatory sequel.

And there is a lot of the action; the initial subway fight, battles in steam trains, and scraps in labs. The gore never gets to horror levels but Underworld doesn’t skimp on it either. The final battle doesn’t quite live up to the start of the movie in terms of action and believability but it’s still fairly satisfying.

The acting is generally of a decent quality. We're not talking award winning, but believable... and let's be honest Kate Beckinsdale (Drool) is rather stunning and holds up well under the camera. Scott Speedman doesn't impress me too much, but this might be due to the fact his character seems to get dragged about the place like a lost puppy.

I'd recommend you see this film in the cinema, it's well worth the entrance money, especially if you're into vampires and werewolves.

Now all I've got to do is wait for the DVD to come out, hopefully with some extras and then wait a further year or so until the inevitable Underworld 2.