Another Movie Guide

Underworld – Rise of the Lycans Movie Review

A prequel to the first two Underworld movies, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans looks at the uprising of a race of werewolves (Lycans) against their aristocratic vampire overlords. There was much pre-criticism of the film due to the absence of Kate Beckinsale in the role of Selene, the main vampire protagonist of the previous films. Considering this is a prequel about the events prior to Selene’s birth such comment seems a bit silly.

In fact the whole film is a bit silly. We have Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon) starring as Lucian, the great furry hope of the werewolves, all bulgy eyes, long stringy hair and breast beating and in the vampire corner we have Bill Nighy (Valkyrie) as the cruel and very grumpy Viktor, king of our fanged friends. Both suffer from a terrible case of over-acting. Sheen is hard to take seriously (I kept on thinking – it’s Tony Blair, one of the actor’s previous roles) due to his over-earnestness and his crazily pristine teeth, whilst Nighy (I am sad to say) spits out his dialogue as if attempting to orate Shakespeare but having his false fangs get in the way.

And then there’s Rhona Mitra (Nip/Tuck) as Sonja, the vampire princess whose forbidden love for Lucian turns her against her beloved father Viktor to free the man she loves, the mortal enemy of her people. Mitra does a decent job and one of her fight scenes is actually well choreographed and beautifully executed (possibly by a stunt double, but still), unlike the others that are sped up so you miss most of the action anyway.

I cannot compare Rise of the Lycans to the rest of the films in the Underworld franchise as despite my good intentions to get them out, I was unavoidably held up in doing so due to their unavailability.

For a film that is supposed to be dark and broody, I found myself laughing and rolling my eyes a lot, especially during a particularly shudder-worthy sex scene between Lucian and Sonja. My movie-going friend didn’t mind the film at all but I would suggest not taking it too seriously or you might be disappointed.

By Kylie McShane (Contributor) http://www.planeturban.com.au/movie_reviews