What in the World?!

Rating: 5/10 (21 January 2004)

Many questions arise when watching Underworld. (1) What are lycans? (2) Who are deathdealers? But most confusingly, (3) who in the world is Scott Speedman??! Underworld answers some of these questions and reveals the plot way too far into the movie. The first two-thirds of Underworld is devoted to shooting, killing, biting, and some chitchat that makes little sense because none of the plot is revealed.
For my father, and I think for many moviegoers, Underworld takes so long to make sense that there's little reason to stick around. However, I toughed it out, and after about 90 minutes, I saw a glimpse of a story unfolding. The story is fairly interesting as we're told how this whole mess started, but it took way too long to get to that point. The actors were unrecognizable before and after this movie (except it was fun to see Kate Beckinsale in that leather outfit). The action sequences were commendable, but may be a little overkill (especially the ending with a very silly death of one of the main characters).
Underworld reminds me of the time my friends dragged me to see Blade 2. I had no real interest in seeing that movie and am really not a fan of vampire/werewolf movies. After seeing Blade 2, I was not swayed, but my friends seemed to enjoy it. I think Underworld will do the same for fans of those types of movies. However, for the average, recreational moviegoer like myself, Underworld is just going to fly over your head.
My IMDb Rating: 5/10. My Yahoo! Grade: C+ (Flawed but Worthy)