Stunning visual and sound effects pardon for a weak story

Rating: 7/10 (25 January 2012)

The Underworld saga goes in a new round with more action and vivid special effects than ever before. The characters are as cool and unique as before and have some cool fighting scenes and dry dialogues. If you have a chance to watch this movie in the cinemas in the best possible quality, just go for it because the movie is all about sound and visual effects and won't work that well on your home cinema or later on television. I would probably not buy a copy of this movie or maybe only if this was released one day in a collector's edition with all movies of the entire saga.
I have only seen the very first part of the movies back in the days and have been attracted to other movies as time went by. I checked this movie out thanks to the interest of my girlfriend and now I definitely want to watch the other movies that I have missed in the past years. From this point of view, the movie grabbed my attention and did a good job in one and a half hour of entertaining power.
On the other side, this movie is clearly weaker than the first strike in my opinion. It focuses a lot on the special effects and is a great action movie but lacks some thrilling scenes, some horror moments and some additional elements that would have helped to create a more profound story even though this movie may initiate a lot of viewers to get back to the series just like me as this movie can be understood as the beginning of a new era rather than a final chapter. The story is easy to follow but I missed some epic scenes, new and intriguing supporting characters and some mystic or mysterious moments.
In the end, this is a fast paced movie with some stunning scenes. It is filmed and mastered in a very professional way. It's a relief to watch movies like this in times of the Twilight saga that waters down the image of those fascinating creatures of the dark. On the other side, this is no essential masterpiece of its kind but a great movie to watch in your local cinema with some drinks and food during the happy hour with a lovely person by your side.