The Moose Hole - Review of Underworld

Rating: 6/10 (20 September 2003)

`But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Rise up, beautiful sun, and make the jealous moon invisible.'
One of the most popular of Shakespeare's plays, Romeo and Juliet, has been transformed into many different feature films; some good (the 1968 version) and some bad (the 1996 version starring Leonardo DiCaprio). But the main point is that this enduring tale of two star-crossed lovers (which, in reality, Shakespeare ripped off) has been able to stand the test of time, be passed on to future generations and has been embraced as much as it has ever been. Now a more different (really different) version has emerged with werewolves and vampires taking the place of the feuding families the Montagues and the Capulets. But Screen Gem's gothic take on the famous tale is much more loosely based then previous versions. How loosely based? At press time there was already talk of a sequel. William Shakespeare must be rolling in his grave right now.
Underworld is loosely based on Romeo and Juliet with werewolves and vampires, two feuding clans, battling for supremacy. Selene, a vampire, is a `Death Dealer', an armed assassin who hunts down the Lycans, also known as werewolves. For centuries the war between the vampires and the Lycans has been raging on outside of the knowledge of the human race but that may all change with new rumblings in the underworld. Selene soon becomes infatuated with a human named Michael, who becomes the focus of a secret plot by the Lycans to resurrect their dying species. Why is this such a big deal? The integration of these two rivaling species is strictly forbidden but such an event could end the war. Why would anyone not want this? Selene believes that there are secrets within both clans that push the classic theme of appearance vs. reality. The story of Underworld is intriguing to say the least but gets too caught up in itself to make truly any sense. There are many surprising twists and turns in the plot but so many that the feature becomes bogged down and just plain confusing by the end of its two hour run. And talk about being `loosely' based! The filmmakers claim that Underworld is based on Romeo and Juliet with two members of feuding clans coming together in blissful love but outside of that, the similarities end pretty quickly. And even that similarity isn't well based with any romantic interests between the two main characters being pretty flat and disconnected.
The cast is full of wonderful actors and actresses but few famous faces to bring in even a built in audience. Kate Beckinsale, who saw her star power rise dramatically after her role in the 2001 hit Pearl Harbor, is obviously the main focus of the feature and does a wonderful job with her time in the spotlight or lack of light. Beckinsale gives an uber-sexy performance as Selene that may give another leather clad actress, Carrie-Ann Moss, a run for her money in that area. The only problem with her character is that little detail is given to her character's past and even when those details are available, they aren't explored in flashback sequences, which would have relieved some confusion in the plot. Scott Speedman, best known for performance on the late Felicity series on the WB television network, does a best a performance as he can give but as important as his character is to the plot of the film, he really isn't given anything to show off his true acting chops. Bill Nighy, who plays the ancient vampire leader Viktor, gives an entertaining performance that was still quite interesting despite the fact that he doesn't appear till relatively late in the film. The only upsetting fact of the character is the way he dies, which seemed like a slap in the face to the fine performer who worked so hard to set up an engaging character only to be kicked down so quickly.
Overall, Underworld is an insult to the famous play on which it is based, no matter how loosely it is. Poor William Shakespeare must be rolling in his grave! The idea seemed to an interesting one, so what went wrong? A lot of things. Despite having a decent two hour time length, Underworld becomes too bloated by the midway point that by the end, it just gives up and rolls downhill. The plot has too many twists and turns to get a clear understanding of what is going on and ends with more questions then answers. How did the vampires and werewolves start out? How were the werewolves able to evolve so that they could change at random? Why is it the werewolves and vampires seem to have this all out war against each other going on for centuries without the knowledge the human race? Some of those answers may be present in the feature but the main focus becomes so confusing that anything else is pushed out of your mind to even ponder. And even though this is a horror/monster film, Screen Gem could have taken the blood factor down a notch or two as there were too many unnecessary squeamish moments for some to take especially after gobbling down a full bucket of popcorn. The action sequences are well done, though the filmmakers seem to borrow too many elements from The Matrix series to make them even slightly original. So despite an excellent performance by Kate Beckinsale and well choreographed action sequences, Underworld comes off as being too long, grim and confusing to recommend above superior fall fare like Once Upon a Time in Mexico.
My Rating: *** out of 5 (Grade: C+)