She's The Black Knight -- He's the Damsel In Distress

Rating: Null/10 (25 December 2003)

Let me start off with the negative. It's not hard to see why UNDERWORLD only did so-so business at the box office. Fans of traditional horror were really offended by the idea of vampires and werewolves spraying each other with machine pistols like LA gangs of the Eighties. The lighting of the film was so murky and blue that it was impossible to see anything, and the attractive cast looked much uglier than necessary. And the fight scenes were just not good enough for an action adventure audience to stay interested in such a long, involved story.
But the love story between vampire warrior Selene (Kate Beckinsale) and gentle human Michael (Scott Speedman) was much more satisfying and rewarding than most screen romances. This has nothing to do with the supernatural elements, but rather with the way gender roles are reversed in a very provocative and sophisticated way. Kate Beckinsale is quite literally the only attractive young actress working today who could have made this character work. Selene is like a classic gunslinger, or like the Black Knight of fairy tales. She has no time for love. She's so angry she doesn't even realize how hard she's trying to fight off her attraction to the gentle, demure Michael. In every sense things are turned around here -- the woman is strong and brave but not able to express her feelings, while the man is gentle and supportive but unable to protect himself from the cruel underworld.
Each encounter between the two is elegantly underplayed, but deeply erotic. Note the scene where strong, silent Selene takes confused, frightened Michael to a "safe house" to hide for a while. She wants to leave him there while she hunts for the people trying to kill him -- but he says, "I want to come with you!" Notice how she uses this moment to steal her first kiss while at the same time clinking chains onto his wrists so that he will stay put while she goes out to fight. It's just what the mysterious black knight would do to protect his damsel in distress. On the other hand, Beckinsale's acting is so rich that you can wonder whether Selene is really stronger than helpless Michael or perhaps more frightened than he is of actually falling in love.
The story goes on too long, there are too many characters, and the heavenly love story does not get all the screen time it deserves. But the attraction between these two is truly intriguing and electrifying.