Year of Release: 2006
Director: Len Wiseman
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Derek Jacobi, Tony Curran, Bill Nighy, Steven Mackintosh, Shane Brolly, Sophia Myles, John Mann, Scott McElroy, Michael Sheen, Richard Cetrone, Brian Steele
Genre: Action, Fantasy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review
Following the unexpected success of "Underworld", the creative team behind that film united efforts to create this more ambitious sequel. The film picks up after the events of the first chapter. Selene and Michael (the vampire/werewolf hybrid), are lovers on the run, both from the vampire clans and also from the lycans. Unbeknownst to them, their actions have brought to life one of the first known vampires, the dangerous and ruthless Marcus. He kills the deceitful Kraven, but before doing so consumes his past actions and the events that have led to Selene and Michael's escape. Marcus is intent on freeing his brother William, one of the original lycans who has been imprisoned for centuries. Unlike modern lycans, who can revert back to human form, the ones descendant from his brother can never do so, and are ferocious, killing everything in sight. Marcus wants to take hold of Selene, since she holds the secret for his brother's location. Selene and Michael in the meantime realize some of Michael's bodily limitations, and are tracked by Marcus, who nearly takes them. They seek out information from Tanis, on why Marcus is so intent on getting information from Selene. Their sleuthing takes them all the way to the original vampire, Corvinus, the father of Marcus and William, who warns them that they're no match for Marcus' powers. As Marcus eventually catches up with them, wreaking havoc in the process, Selene also suffers changes that enable her to battle Marcus on a very different level.
"Underworld: Evolution" was the first sequel to a series that has continued to be a successful one for Sony Pictures (and specifically Screen Gems, their label that specializes in this genre of films). This film had double the budget of the first one, which allowed for the team to expand their scope in terms of visual effects, makeup, production design, production aspects in general. The film also had the original writers back, which allowed them to continue to focus on the relationship between Selene and Michael, while probing deeper in the origins of vampires and lycans. Sadly that's one of the aspects where the film falters most, the script. Very little background is provided for Selene or Michael, with Selene in this episode getting some of the lion share of exposition, but even that is very limited in scope, information, or how the character eventually became what she is. There's quite a bit of missed opportunities here when it comes to bringing these characters to life, mostly because the script is more focused on pitting Selene and Michael against a powerful elder, aiming for the action set pieces, disregarding character development in the process. The film is rendered like a slick and polished B-movie, which in certain aspects it manages to succeed, particularly when it comes to the creative work supervised by Patrick Tatopoulos, responsible for the Production Design, but also for the Makeup effects. All this work is a substantial departure from the prior installment, but once again is more style and not so much substance. However the action set pieces are fairly well staged, and the film mostly capitalizes on that. The cast has far more talent than what the material is giving them, starting with the underrated Kate Beckinsale, who has an enormously talented trifecta of support: Derek Jacobi, Bill Nighy, Tony Curran. All these talented performers manage to keep the events of the film always compelling. The production team is also solid, including Marco Beltrami's score, Simon Duggan's cinematography, Wendy Partridge's costumes, and the aforementioned Patrick Tatopoulos. It's a film with quite a few limitations, but its lack of pretension, married with the talent of everyone involved, elevates it to something watchable and even entertaining in certain parts.
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