Beautiful execution more than compensates for derivativeness

Rating: 8/10 (20 September 2003)

'Underworld' is follows a trend of female action-hero movies, borrowing heavily from the Matrix, Blade and X-Men. What I particularly liked about this one, apart from Kate Beckinsale's fine performance (which shows that female action heroes can still be feminine), is the detailed attention given to the trappings of plot, scenery and costume. Beckinsale does most of the stunts herself, whether in tight black PVC and leather (with or without the de rigueur long black coat) or in high fashion Gothic ballgown outfits. In this world of an age-old battle between vampires and werewolves, Underworld makes up by means of great settings, scenes, respect for legend and openness to metaphor, whatever it lacks in originality, and the two species that are portrayed can easily represent any number of political or religious conflicts, though they are perhaps best explained by a clue in the website's historical 'timeline' which documents cases from Gilles de Reis right up to modern ones of schizophrenia.