Way better than I ever expected!

Rating: Null/10 (24 June 2004)

I've always liked Kate Backinsale. I think it's something about Brits in Hollywood, plus her mother was an actress in British medical drama 'Casualty', one of my great obsessions. My mate works at a movie theatre and gave me the movie poster which sits proudly on my wall. I never saw it in the cinema and it took me a good few months to finally see it after it was out on DVD. I didn't have very high hopes for it, I was expecting something similar to 'Blade' (I'm a big action fan, and a bit sci fi fan, but I'm sorry, it sucked!)
Underworld, unlike Blade, doesn't rely solely on CGI and stunt work (Which is fabulous anyway!) The storyline is really intriguing. It had me hooked right from the start. I'm always weary of films that try and combine 2 different well established, for want of a better word 'worlds'. Both the vampires and the werewolves were portrayed in a way I've rarely seen before, you get a real sense of history between the two groups.
The storyline I didn't find at all predictable as I do usually and I was pleasantly surprised that the 'romance' I was dreading between Selene and Micheal (Scott Speedman) came to nothing more than a kiss, and one with ulterior motives at that. The acting by Kate and Scott made their relationship strong enough that you didn't need to see them rip each others clothes off to understand their connection. It would have been out of character and I'm glad the writers didn't stoop to the 'sex sells' level that so many do nowadays.
I'm rambling on rather a lot, but I think you can tell that I loved it! I'd never heard of Scott Speedman before I came across an article in SFX magazine about this film but I'd like to see a lot more of him.
A highly underrated film, deserves twice the hype than 'Blade' got, considering it's 4 times as good. Said friend who got me the poster now has my DVD. I want it back, I need to see it again!
9/10