Underworld: La rebelión de los licántropos

I came back about an hour ago from the 3:45 showing here in Toronto. I've seen the first two movies, and I have to say I'm glad they brought back Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy; the second film just wasn't quite the same without those two. Lucian is the character you love to sympathize for and Viktor is the character you love to hate.

I'm so very glad the story was more focused on Lucian as it's a nice change from Selene and Michael being in the spotlight (not to mention Michael Sheen's arguably superior acting ability). As for Rhona Mitra, I won't say she was better than Kate Beckinsale but I can't say she was any less of an asset. Not only did she look great, but she executed her lines superbly. I will however say that I find Sonja's character much more interesting than Selene's. The chemistry between Lucian and Sonja was much better than that of the chemistry between Michael and Selene.

The story was much more intriguing, emotional and tragic than that of either of the previous two expeditions (this being of course subjective), as many who recall the flashbacks presented within will agree. It was also faithful to the material, and it's good that they didn't compromise for the sake of "improving" the story.

Overall, I can't think of another prequel that brought such raw emotion to the table, and regardless of the fact that Len Wiseman was not directing this one (though he was at the helm in other ways), you wouldn't know by watching it as it did a good job maintaining the same feel as the first two. The score also added to a lot of the emotion.

In regards to the possibility of a 4th movie: if they choose to continue on from this prequel as I think they should, they should bring in Amelia as she is one of the few characters that has yet to be explored fully.

A medieval tale of the genesis of the Lycans, and how Lucien was born, into the middle of a frying pan, before jumping into fire, making his life rather dire, setting free his fellow brethren and undoing what had been done.

Alas, without Selene, it is an empty can of beans, just an ordinary kind of tale, blows quite limp with a wet sail.

It's only downhill from now on, as the franchise ruptures, the bloods gone, not quite knowing when to stop, perpetually draining a good plot, leaving a husk, a shallow spectre of what was.

Be nice to know what the point of it all is too, aside from megalomania.

Very rarely do prequels match up with their predecessors. As I'm not the biggest Underworld fan, I can honestly say that I wasn't expecting much. However, I should've expected more, as the latest, yet earliest installment is easily my favorite in the series. It ain't art, but it's the shining example of why we go to the movies: to escape into a world of mythology, fantasy, and crazy vampire/werewolf action.

For the first time in the series, the filmmakers have decided to leave out the rock that probably was the reason the films have been successful: Kate Beckinsale. I'm guessing this was a production risk/choice, but it seems to have paid off. Selene's absence from the story is necessary to tell the story of how the Lycans rose to power, how Viktor was driven insane (though we pretty much already know how), and, as off topic as it may be, how simply awesome Michael Sheen is.

Very rarely do the actors make an action movie good. Most action movies rely on explosions and (surprise!) action to enhance the quality and generally feature run of the mill copycat characters. Sheen's Lucian and Bill Nighy's Viktor will always stand out in the realm of action/fantasy characters to me, and it's easy to see why. Sheen's turn as Lucian is fierce, determined, and one of my favorite performances in an action movie I've seen in years. Despite playing a (mostly) villainous role in the first film, Lucian is the hero of this film, and it totally gives you a new spin on things. Sheen's brave and dedicated performance really makes the character work, while Bill Nighy is once again effectively creepy as Viktor. Rhona Mitra's presence as Sonja is welcome, though she doesn't carry the same charisma that Beckinsale does, making her an ill advised choice to be Selene's replacement (as she so obviously is).

The action in Underworld, though obviously restrained by a lower budget, is once again great. There's some nice dueling, the obvious gore and blood galore, and a nice Lord of the Rings style battle at the end. What it comes down to is that Underworld does nothing new, but does everything right in maintaining a steady river of entertainment. I was never bored, and I don't think you will be either.

The film does answer a lot of questions and provides some nice insight to the Lycans (which were my favorite parts about the first two films), though it suffers from the same fate as most prequels do...even a casual viewer of this series knows which characters will live, which will die, and how it will end. The film isn't really about the resolution, but rather the journey to the end. In fact, it's made in such a way that you can certainly watch the trilogy in chronological order.

When it comes down to it, I liked 'Lycans' a lot. It's a worthy installment in the series, and certainly not a disappointment to me. It's got good action, a wonderful lead performance from Michael Sheen, and should satisfy fans of the series and fans of mythological stories altogether.

This prequel to "Underworld" is essentially the story of "Lucian" (played by Michael Sheen) and the evolution of lycans (werewolves) from full-time savage beasts to those who change from werewolf to human (and back again). The biggest problem I have with prequels is that the endings are generally already known, so much of the mystery has already been taken away. This film is no exception. For example, anyone who has seen "Underworld" knows that "Sonja" (played by Rhona Mitra) dies. It is also common knowledge that "Viktor" (Bill Nighy) and "Lucian" will live to fight another day. Further, for those who have seen the sequel, "Underworld: Evolution", then they know that "Tannis" (Steve Mackintosh) also survives. So all that's left are perhaps a few minor surprises here and there and the hope of plenty of good action or plot developments in-between. Because of this, prequels are seldom as good as the original movie. Add in the fact that the main star (Kate Beckinsale) of both "Underworld" and "Underworld: Evolution" is absent, along with the fact that another director (Patrick Tatopoulos) is calling the shots, and this movie doesn't seem to have much chance of success. Fortunately, this film beats the odds. Although not quite as good as Kate Beckinsale, Rhona Mitra steps in and gives a very good performance as "Sonja", the daughter of "Viktor". Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy also perform exceptionally well. Likewise, Patrick Tatopoulos manages to stay the course and remains true to the basic theme of the original and sequel alike. In short, this is a surprisingly good prequel and I recommend it to anyone who liked the two previous pictures.

"Rise of the Lycans", on the surface, makes a perfectly well working prequel. The loss of Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman is compensated by a great Rhona Mitra and especially Michael Sheen's titanic effort. The look and the action are amazing, considering the somewhat lower budget, and the story makes sense to prepare us all for the things to come in the other two movies. All in all, the trilogy is round now and does not disappoint in any department, unless you are taking everything a bit too literally and wonder how werewolves can make babies.

It is interesting, however, to peek below the surface. The makers mentioned in interviews they see similarities to "Romeo & Juliet" insofar as Lucien and Sonja are lovers not allowed to get together. One crucial difference, however, is that Romeo and Juliet came from two noble families, whereas in "Rise of the Lyans", Sonja is a member of the aristocratic pale vampire rulers, who are sipping glasses of blood on the castle, while Lucien is with the ugly, hairy slaves, the werewolves exploited as cheap labor force. We don't really get to see what this work consists of except carrying stones around. Also the love story isn't explained enough in the running time of not much more than 80 minutes PAL until the credits start to roll. But the point is that "Rise of the Lycans" is a hardly disguised class struggle story. Similar to the Italian socialist cinema of the 1960s which would show the rebellion of poor farmers against the rich property owners, the working class has to realise their value (in Lucien's words: "we are more than animals") and claim their human rights. When Lucien says "this is just the beginning", it may seem to the audience that he jokingly refers to other other two movies which have shown us already how the story continues after this prequel. In the subtext, though, he is making a very serious statement that freedom is the foundation of a life worth living, and everything else will be built up now upon this basic condition. It's a pity that the movie doesn't elaborate more on that and doesn't spend some additional time on the character development, either, because it could have been the best of the trilogy. Alas, I voted almost equally 8-7-7 for the three movies.