Underworld: Evolution

02/11/06 – “Underword – Evolution“

Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Bill Nighy, Derek Jacobi, Tony Curran

Directed by: Len Wiseman

Rating: Totally Off the Rag

Plot Summary: Picking up where the first film left off, the story of the Lycan/Vampire war continues, and we learn more of the orgins of both races, as Michael and Selena both struggle to understand what he has become.

I have to say, I don’t think that critics understand movies, or the people who love them. This film has been widely panned, so much so that I had a soupçon of doubt that I wanted to see it, but in the end I knew I would. Though I did have to see it at the most ghetto-fabulous theater in town and had to go in the middle of the day so I wouldn’t get shot. I can’t believe how quickly films turn over in this town.

Anyway, I loved it, and though it was perfect. As the first film ended, the only thing I could think of was how badly I wanted to know what happened next, and this film scratched that itch to perfection.

The action picks up quite literally where the first film left off. The same night as Selene killed Victor, as she and Michael race to find supplies and cover before the other death dealers are after them. Michael doesn’t know what he is, but he does thank Selene for saving him, telling her that he “wasn’t ready to die.” Scott Speedman is a very understated actor, and he is perfect for the role of Michael. He does remind me a bit of that role he played in Felicity, so I don’t know if he has a broader range than this type of character, but I suspect so. He doesn’t steal scenes, and that’s what makes him so effective. He is very in tune with a character who never wanted the spotlight or what’s come to him, but is facing it calmly, with what we can surmise is his customary calm and quiet strength.

Of course, Michael doesn’t want to accept a fate of living on blood, and one of the few problems I had with the plotline was that Selene and Michael never fed. Selene gave Michael some of her blood when he was wounded, and in the end Selene takes the blood of another vampire, but as far as we are shown, neither of them takes in any sustenance throughout all the action. I found that a bit odd, but then, I suspended my disbelief enough to believe that vampires and lycans are hunting each other in the middle of this east-European country and no one is aware of it, so I don’t know why this niggled at me.

Selene thinks her only hope is to wake the last sleeping elder, Marcus. Kraven, from the last film, has the same idea. Without spoiling you too much, I can say that Marcus does awaken, and the results are not what you might think. The film takes us on a fast-paced journey, in which we learn more about the history of both lycans and vampires, Selene’s place in the intricate plot that’s led us to this point, and a bit more about Michael, though not as much as I would have hoped. (Underworld III, I hope?)

Selene and Michael break their palpable sexual tension in a really well-done sex scene. It was a bit more than I am used to seeing in movies, rather graphic – and I had to wonder what it was like for Len Wiseman to direct his wife in a such a scene. Or maybe he got off on it, I don’t know. We do get to find out what Selene wears under all that latex though, and the scene between her and Michael is soft, and tender and very satisfying to see. It comes at a perfect point in the film’s action, when you’re thinking “can’t these two catch a break already?” I have to say that the paint splashing scene (no, not during the sex scene) was oddly long, at least twice as long as it should have been. Half the action would have been twice as good. In the accompanying scenes Speedman explains so much of Michael’s character and feeling for Selene without speaking that I couldn’t help but be moved. But I am a closet romantic, afterall.

I think the film was well-served to have the same director, as it fit seamlessly in with the visual style of the first film. Everything was perfect, from the sets to the costuming, Selene’s blue-glowing eyes, the transformation of the lycans (OK, that was a little choppy, but overall impressive) and the moody, tense atmosphere of the film itself.

As for Kate Beckinsale’s performance; I have such a hard time believing that the actress that plays Selene is the same innocent girl who played Hero in Kenneth Brannaugh’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” There is nothing of that sweet little white-gowned girl to be seen here. Selene has a stern, emotionless control of every situation that allows her to live through it – it’s only with Michael that she shows any more tender emotion. But when she does it is very believable, as well as her grim determination when she sets emotion aside and continues to do her duty as a death dealer.

Obviously, I loved this movie. I think of this series as a sort of mega-budget graphic novel. Self-contained, interwoven stories that leave you hungry for more. I want a new chapter every month, dammit. I want more and more of these characters and this world. I sincerely hope that the box-office returns are enough to warrant “Underworld III” and I will be first in the line to see it, moronic movie critics be damned.