Underworld: Director’s Cut
Attempting to create a new mythology in a film franchise is always tough (especially if there’s any resemblance to other people’s creations), but here Len Wiseman does a pretty good job of starting said franchise, even if it borrows at times from earlier works like Dark City, Blade, and others. Perhaps the most notable thing about the film is the ambiguity of the ongoing conflict between vampires and werewolves: we’re not given any definite answers as to which side we should be rooting for, and allowed to make up our own minds, until the last 30 minutes or so. However, what we do get are badly shot and edited shootout scenes where we’re not quite sure which side is which and all we see are mass groups shooting at each other with little idea of who is prevailing. Things are helped greatly though, by a fairly charismatic cast: Beckinsale as Selene is absolutely beautiful, and every close-up of her face is practically a work of art; Michael Sheen’s werewolf king brings equal parts menace and empathy; Shane Brolly’s Kraven makes a good asshole yet still brings style to the part; Bill Nighy as Viktor brings the suitable presence to the vampire elder, even as we try to figure out if his intentions are noble; and Sophia Myles brings an extra dose of sex appeal to her role as a hot blond vamp. Only Scott Speedman, in what could be called the Jason Patric role, falls noticeably short: we don’t feel the desperation that a character in his predicament should have, plus he and Beckinsale have absolutely ZERO chemistry, making their attraction to each other seem like a plot device to give Selene a motive for her later actions. However, it was truly cool to see how almost every major character seemed to have their own personal agenda, even if it conflicted with their respective species, and the final fight is rather epic in scope even if it takes place in the sewers. In the end, a pretty successful attempt to take classic elements and infuse them with a modern sensibility…
8/10