A fun movie

Rating: 8/10 (30 September 2003)

I'm absolutely amazed at the negative criticism this film is getting. The points that are spat upon by the bad reviews are best addressed by another review I saw above, but a short summary is included herein anyway. I think the biggest problems folks have with this movie is their predetermined expectations versus what it really is.
This is an action movie, through and through. Instead of gun slinging madmen and unerring good guys you've got Vampires and Werewolves. They make the gray areas some films try to create with questionable cops and criminals with some good intentions even more gray by using two 'evils' as the characters. Maybe that's what drove these critics 'batty', the fact that who is in the right is entirely up to the viewer, the film makers haven't really chosen a side, they merely show the story from a choice few perspectives.
Also, just pretend you don't 'know' anything about werewolves or vampires when you go into the film. These are not classic renditions of the two creatures as presented in other books or films, they are new angles on both, and you'll have to watch the whole movie to get the over all truth behind their legends. I've seen people complain that vampires don't get to turn into bats and that they cast reflections...so? This is not Dracula or Blade, this is Underworld. It is it's own story. With some simple dialogue the entire history, both myth and 'real', is set for the audience. If you never heard of either creature the movie explains what they are to you within the parameters of the film.
The action sequences are a treat, the unbelievable stunts pulled off by the characters easily acceptable as they are far from human. In MI II or Charlie's Angels it's just silly or an insult to your intelligence as the characters are supposed to be 'real'. These are not humans and the wild line work mixes well within the physical limitations that are set for them.
The acting and dialogue is not any worse than any other action yarn, actually sitting much higher in my eyes than performances in embarassingly poorly acted blockbusters like 'Spider-Man'. I found the plot twists well done, and the slight love story which is a reflection of one of the story's plot bases well done.
Another thing that impressed me about the movie was the lack of cartoonish CGI effects. SpiderMan, Hulk, Blade, even sometimes the Star Wars flicks had some computer generated character animations that were so poor one wondered why they were included. Maybe because they were on a limited budget the Underworld producers did more of the work 'the old fashioned way', and it came off well.
If you expect twelve Oscar nominations from every movie you see, then don't bother. If you want a fun ride with well done photography, a thumping soundtrack (David Bowie's in there!), near non-stop action, and bestial werewolves that fear next to no other denizens of the night, then check it out. Oh, the story was pretty good too.