Wow

Rating: 10/10 (30 April 2005)

There are some movies which have eye-widening or before-their-time special effects. There are some movies with beautifully crafted music, costumes & sets. There are some movies with actors worth watching purely for their acting ability. There are some movies with genuinely interesting story lines.
There are few movies or TV series which have all four in such perfect balance they could be watched over and over and you would not easily tire of them. The Matrix is one such movie. Lord Of The Rings is three. The Passion Of The Christ is one. Babylon 5 and the UK edition of Queer As Folk provide the TV offering. Underworld is also quite justifiably in this list.
The special effects are brilliant, but they're not the purpose of the movie - they exist to carry the plot, rather than the other way round, and they are nowhere pushed further than they need be. The CG animation of the Lycans changing, and the Lycan body-suits, are brilliant.
The sets and costumes are a well-balanced and sometimes imaginative blend of classic Vampire Goth and Matrix-style Cybergoth (which is probably why the film got so many Matrix comparisons - other than the set and costume design, which is inevitable with the genre, the underground station shootout is the only similarity - and unlike the Matrix, the sequence HAS to take place in an underground station for various reasons). Kraven's suit and the Death Dealer uniforms were especially good.
I found only one actor whose performance I was disappointed with - and he was only on screen for ten seconds, and the contribution was so minimal his part could theoretically have been eliminated entirely. Beckinsale's performance was exemplary, especially given the number of lines she had, but for acting I'd say the best were Shane Brolly's Kraven and Bill Nighy's Viktor - two of the most scheming, manipulative and yet distinctly different characters you could imagine.
The story line was the real gem though. Double-dealing on top of skulduggery laid over some pretty advanced genetics, all mixed with a heavy dose of romance, a dash of genocide, and stirred well by some of the best twists I've seen in a while, then set in an epic scale of events. Yet it still managed to be driven by the characters' personalities as much as the situation!
Anyone who doesn't mind needles, body parts, blood and some pretty nasty ways of killing people will enjoy the film. And if you're worried about nudity, don't - the furthest extent is a few Lycans in wolf-mode, a dehydrated elderly Vampire, the delectable Scott Speedman (unfortunately obscured under a load of latex and body-paint), and a couple of bloodied male torsos.