Entertaining, but tries too hard to capitalize on trends

Rating: 8/10 (19 September 2003)

The typical comments from people who have only seen the trailers bear true here, to a degree. This premise had a lot of potential, and when it focused on that potential, it was a good film. Unfortunately, the filmmakers too often tried to exploit obvious cultural trends in movies like "The Matrix" and "Blade," and that's where they tripped up. This was especially true in the action scenes, where an obscene number of bullets were fired for no other plausible reason than because that's what they did in "The Matrix." There was also far too much black with blue filter, again seemingly because of "The Matrix" and "Blade."
Unfortunately, discussing the "good parts" means discussing the original parts, which means discussing spoilers. To tread these waters without diving in: The movie relies on its own mythology for both werewolves and vampires. This might annoy some vampire purists, but I found it a fairly interesting and convincing mythology. Logic holes? Sure. What the heck, it's a movie, people. Nothin' but a show.
There's social commentary in the movie, too. Vampires seem to be a recurrent metaphor for some social ill or other (usually bloodborne illnesses, as in Stoker). In "Underworld," the social commentary makes for a more complicated plot than in "Blade," one I wished they'd explored more, instead of spending so much film time on cliches.