One of my all time favorites.

Good concept, poorly executed.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Whether you view that as pleasant or hideous is up to you, I for one believe it to be a refreshing change despite being released during the height of the 'Blade' franchise. The vampiric Death Dealer Selene is in the midst of an eternal war, Lycans against vampires. Convinced that these werewolves murdered her family, she's hellbent on destroying the Lycans to save her covenant. It's a complicated family tree with deathly descendants and plenty of double-crossing, which does make for an interesting story. McBride's screenplay turns traditional monsters into a gritty gang war whilst embedding genetics along the way. It feels fresh, even when watching it today, just a shame that McBride's script is littered with thin characterisation and plagued with bland dialogue. Several scenes where I became disengaged just because of how tedious the story was told. Takes itself far too seriously with all the mumbo jumbo about the Corvin bloodline, lycans, vampi...yawwwn...see what I mean? What Underworld does do well is world building. The bleak underground environment and stormy weathering creates a gothic atmosphere that would suit the accompaniment of an Evanescence soundtrack (hold onto that thought...). The production and visual designs were a dark delight and certainly assisted in enhancing the world it was portraying. Acting was functional, aside from Nighy and Sheen who gave great performances, everyone else just walked around in the darkness shooting at each other. Beckinsale definitely catapulted herself into stardom though, and clearly liked wearing leather attire ever since. The minimal use of CGI was appreciated and the final act was excitingly directed by Wiseman. It is plagued with generic sound effects, y'know the ones you could find in any horror or gothic video game, which does infuriate me slightly as it just urges me to play 'Devil May Cry' again. However, Underworld is a thinly written promising start at blending action and horror together. The question is can it maintain this level of interest? Well, you'll see...

2003 - 2016: No clean sweep of all major awards ("yet"). No concrete announcements of further future movie ("The suspense", "The pain"). This movie / movies are nothing short of THE ILLUMINATEY. Just, thankfully always with One Thing Missing. I know, now, only father Christmas himself can provide everything for everyone, in a flash, asap, only Santa can... so, what next to believe in... Discovered: Underworld Franchise. So far (Rant for Underworld IX, X, etc.), none of Michael's immortal human parents have met Seline, or their grandchild to be, neither know that Michael is being treated like a piece of meat. So, Now, OK, (Prompt for Underworld IX, X, etc.) nobody is above the law (Clan / Covenant - pay attention) so you would be right to feel uneasy knowing that humans knowledge of 1, the solar eclipse time table 2, the combined Full Moon in the Daytime time table and, our stealth of, if we humans need to bang two heads together we bang two heads together ("You Covenant and Clans go around biting just anyone you feel like biting", "just know that us humans sum 6 BILLION")... And just one other thing please, If you can ask Seline please, now that Vampires and Lycans are "truly" hitting women hard is the Underworld in need of a cascading biological family of Death Dealing Seline's eventually, all with their very own Michael? (I might have unveiled even more enemy somewhere in the Caribbean?)Underworld - My now, be all and end all.

What makes a good movie? In any story, especially in movies, characters and it's theme is crucial towards having a successful and well liked outcome. Underworld, a vampire and werewolf movie, compliments this criteria as it is used in an innovative way. We see this through character development and theme, "man vs man" that's apparent throughout the movie. Action, is recognized throughout Underworld. By meeting the criteria, Underworld captures my eye consistently throughout the movie. Some disagree with the idea that Underworld meets the criteria mentioned such as a critic, James Berardinelli (Berardinelli 2003). While his disagreements may be valid, other parts of the movie, such as the characters, do justice to this genre of movie. Characters and it's theme plays an engaging role in Underworld. Examples of meeting this criteria, is depicted when it shows their characters grow into more than just a person on a screen. When Selene says, "...Two vampire elders have been slain… With differences will be set aside. Allegiances will be made. And soon, I will become the hunted"(Wiseman 2003). It accomplishes these things because it conveys you can't trust your own—it symbolizes the idea "family" can really be your enemy. It's theme, man verses man, meets the criteria because it illustrates what a person is capable of: this inspires many including myself. The third piece of criteria, action is met throughout Underworld because it's intense and realistic. Overall, Underworld is a rejuvenating movie that meets my standards. Five out of five stars.

Selene (Kate Beckinsale), a beautiful warrior, is entrenched in a war between the vampire and werewolf races. Although she is aligned with the vampires, she falls in love with Michael, a human who is sought by werewolves for unknown reasons.What so you get if you create a world of sleek vampires, make them angry at a world of werewolves, infuse some "Matrix" mojo, and add a blue-grey lens to the camera? You might think "Twilight" or "True Blood" or something else, and you'd be right. Add a butt-load of guns, and you would have "Underworld".Is this Kate Beckinsale's breakout role? I mean, I know she did some BBC films or something classy, but if you live in my bubble (the genre film bubble), this is what you most associate her with, sort of like Milla Jovovich in "Resident Evil". And with about thirty sequels, why not?