Outmatrixes THE MATRIX

Rating: 8/10 (16 September 2003)

When I saw the trailer for this movie, the first thing that ran through my mind: "THE MATRIX with fangs". Leather trenchcoats, large-caliber automatic
firearms, wirework fight scenes. I received a pass for an advance screening and went, not expecting too much. I must say, after seeing the movie, I was
pleasantly surprised. UNDERWORLD was everything that THE MATRIX
WISHES it could have been. The movie basically continues a feud that was
shown in the movie THE HOWLING VI: THE FREAKS: vampires and
werewolves do not get along. They have been warring for over a millennium. Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is a vampire known as a "death dealer", she
especially trained to kill lycans: Werewolves. The leader of the lycans, Lucian (Michael Sheen), has been killed. Or so we are led to believe. It turns out that not only is he alive, but he is tracking a young man (Scott Speedman) who is a descendant of a man who is supposed to have the blood of both lycans and
vampires flowing through him. Selene is also trying to get to Michael
(Speedman) before Lucian. As fate would have it, Michael is being hunted at
around the same time that Viktor (Bill Nighy), the leader of the vampires, is going to be resurrected. This isn't sitting too well with Kraven (Shane Brolly), the current leader. He'd just as soon kill Michael as try to find out the plans that Lucian have for him.
The fight scenes are pretty impressive as is the unique ammo that each side uses to exploit the other's weaknesses such as bullets that emit ultraviolet rays inside of a vampire's body and others that are loaded with silver nitrate to get into a lycan's bloodstream quicker. I repeat, I was expecting a weak MATRIX clone and instead found a movie that, I think, sets the bar high for THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS to top.