Underworld

A film that is the biggest disappointment of the year for me personally. The fact that the touted story of Romeo and Juliet in the world of vampires and werewolves never happens wouldn't matter so much, but an action horror film with entirely unimaginative and static action and without a single thrilling moment is already a problem. On top of that, the acting is mediocre, the make-up effects are crap, the script, besides being pretty simple, has tons of logical errors and the direction is very subpar. It's a shame, because with its premise it could have been so much more. (12/05/2003)

How to put it best... I really like the topic of vampirism and I don't mind the pop culture mutation of “Vampire: The Masquerade". I am more bothered when there is too much of the same thing in Hollywood, which is exactly the case of Underworld. I quite liked the atmosphere of some of the shots, and I also liked the vampire guru Viktor and his counterpart, the Lycan "Pepa Vojtek" Lucius. Otherwise, the characters lack motivation and, what’s worse, they are played tragically (particularly Barbi Kate is dismal). The biggest loser, however, is director Len Wiseman... the film might be stupid but also attractive, but in its current form it is only stupid. I would forgive the completely obvious and non-artificial copying of the visual style of the Wachowski brothers, but it is very difficult to forgive the totally chaotic and choreographically-weak action scenes, which culminate at the end with a confusing swarm of uncles in black coats... Trying to figure out who is who in the cannonade of cuts is useless, and this characterizes the entire film. Underworld lacks strong conflict and drama bearers, a clearly defined storyline, and mastered choreography. In some places the film does not lack decent action momentum, but the mentioned chaos and dialogues conducted in a ridiculously ceremonial spirit undermine the film and make it weaker. (01/04/2006)

When you first read the film's premise, you might hesitate at the idea of a battle between vampires and werewolves and think to yourself, "No way, I'm not watching that at all." Don't make the same mistake I did for a few years. Len Wiseman is a solid craftsman who knows what he's doing, and we've already seen proof of that (Die Hard 4 was an action hit). There was no problem with his direction. The story has a few flaws, but the presentation of the mythology itself was top-notch. The script is weaker, and sometimes you'll find illogical character behavior, but it seems to me that lately, the script isn't always the top priority. You just can't overthink everything happening on screen, but if you enjoy the mysterious execution with a likable main heroine, you'll end up liking the film. For a fairly low budget, the special effects were great, which really surprised me (it's nice to see that today, you can make a blockbuster for a reasonable price). The use of colors benefited the film, and I wouldn't have liked full colors, which would have somewhat killed the atmosphere. The action is the best aspect, and the vampire vs. lycan fights have something going for them. We'll see what the sequel brings, and then another sequel, and after that another... It's a long series, so I'm slightly worried that the quality won't hold up throughout. I give it 71%. (08/14/2017)

Underworld is definitely not an extremely good film, but it is visually attractive, musically well-done, and sufficiently atmospheric. Kate Beckinsale fits snugly into her tight suit, and the only thing that really bothered me, and paradoxically diminished the film's cool factor, were the sometimes dull and unnecessary digital effects. (11/29/2003)

We are in the 21st century, gone are the days of individualists with two fangs, now we have whole families of vampires and lycans who organize themselves almost like political parties and wage wars among themselves like mafiosi. Vampires with electronic equipment and a massive arsenal of weaponry are nothing like the pleasantly decadent vampires from, for example, Jordan's Interview with the Vampire. Sorry, Director Wiseman, I prefer the decadent ones, or the posh Count Dracula, who with all nonchalance digs his fangs into an artery and needs no laptops or liquid silver bullets to do it. For a ridiculously low budget of 20 million I was treated to some very impressive images in places, but that’s not everything, script-wise it was as scratchy as Kate's tight leather outfit while walking, the war between lycans and vampires full of machine gun shots didn't entertain me at all, nor did the plot around the blood mixing. Basically, there was nobody to root for. A lot of silly fun, really. (07/13/2004)