Promising, but ultimately disappointing.

Rating: 5/10 (8 February 2004)

Underworld's one of those films that had a lot going for it only to collapse under its own weight.
Underworld's greatest asset is the stunning visual work. The film's world is gloriously dark and gothic, with almost no sunlight depicted--appropriate, given that most of the characters are vampires. The fight scenes are beautifully shot as well, and Kate Beckinsale and her stunt doubles are entrancingly graceful as bullets zip around her/them. (And, yes, she looks great in pleather or whatever that skin-tight outfit was made of.)
The premise is promising--a war between vampires and werewolves, the former's erstwhile slaves and now deadliest enemies. And the filmmakers do a good job of gradually revealing the war's history and, as a result, shifting your sympathies from the vampires to the werewolves as the backstory unfolds.
BUT. Like so many recent Hollywood action movies, this film sacrifices character to action. Fight sequences should always be relevant to the story and the characters, but as usual, they're just eye candy here way too often--F/X porn.
As a result, much-needed character development is sacrificed and a talented actress like Beckinsale is largely wasted. The worst example of this: her love for Michael, a new werewolf. Apart from the fact that these people are both good-looking, why are they attracted to one another? We never find out.

Frankly, the conflict between Viktor and Lucien--the leaders of the vampires and werewolves respectively--had more teeth (heh, get it?). It should have been the A plot, with Selene and Michael's snoogins relegated to a subplot.

A couple of other complaints: first, the tone was unrelentingly grim. This is an action flick, not Ingmar Bergman. How about a few one-liners to lighten things up, gang? Second, more than once, vampires cast reflections in mirrors. Okay, if you're going to muck around with a well-known element of pop culture mythos, EXPLAIN IT SOMEHOW OR DON'T BOTHER!!
Disappointing for a movie that seemed to hold so much promise. 5/10.