Stronger ending redeems the rest

Rating: 5/10 (1 April 2004)

A dark vampire action thriller - these are always appealing to me. Something about the lives of vampires is extremely enviable - all the sex, drugs, rock and roll with lashings of blood somehow seem *very* seductive.
Underworld is the first one I've seen in a while and fails to entertain for much of its duration, which is unfortunate, as usually the mere 'atmosphere' and 'look' of these type of films is enough to grab my attention. Here those aspects simply serve as a platform, and don't particularly draw you in. Kate Beckinsale is Seline, a vampire who's part of an ongoing war between her kind and the Lycans, (Werewolves) a war whose origin is not made clear till later on. Kraven is the leader of the vampires, but Seline despises him and hankers for her dead mentor, Vincent, the former leader, which alienates her from her ilk. However, things get dangerous with the emergence of Michael, a mortal who the Lycans appear to be after, for reason the vampires must find out.
This sets the pace of the movie, the story essentially evolving around him.
The main problem with this picture is the acting is appallingly banal and lifeless, with absolutely cliched characters because none of the actors are capable of making their part their own. Mundane dialogue with insipid delivery serves to bore rather than grip. The only actor who breaks this chain is Bill Nighy, who commands the screen every time he appears. He's not even that outstanding but the feeble competition makes him look so.
The second problem is drab direction. At no point for the vast majority are we made to feel part of what we're watching, because it fails on so many levels to suck us into its world, which is essential in any good film, especially one with such a distinct theme. The action itself seems to be going through the motions too, with decidedly uninspired gunfights and slaughter scenes.
However, amazingly, the last reel is actually rather good. Without giving anything away, obviously events come to a head and for once, the acting is tolerable and the plot genuinely gets interesting. The final action sequence isn't *overly* breathtaking, but it's reasonable, and finally the film pulled me in.
Just a pity it took seemingly forever to get there.