Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

This prequel to "Underworld" is essentially the story of "Lucian" (played by Michael Sheen) and the evolution of lycans (werewolves) from full-time savage beasts to those who change from werewolf to human (and back again). The biggest problem I have with prequels is that the endings are generally already known, so much of the mystery has already been taken away. This film is no exception. For example, anyone who has seen "Underworld" knows that "Sonja" (played by Rhona Mitra) dies. It is also common knowledge that "Viktor" (Bill Nighy) and "Lucian" will live to fight another day. Further, for those who have seen the sequel, "Underworld: Evolution", then they know that "Tannis" (Steve Mackintosh) also survives. So all that's left are perhaps a few minor surprises here and there and the hope of plenty of good action or plot developments in-between. Because of this, prequels are seldom as good as the original movie. Add in the fact that the main star (Kate Beckinsale) of both "Underworld" and "Underworld: Evolution" is absent, along with the fact that another director (Patrick Tatopoulos) is calling the shots, and this movie doesn't seem to have much chance of success. Fortunately, this film beats the odds. Although not quite as good as Kate Beckinsale, Rhona Mitra steps in and gives a very good performance as "Sonja", the daughter of "Viktor". Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy also perform exceptionally well. Likewise, Patrick Tatopoulos manages to stay the course and remains true to the basic theme of the original and sequel alike. In short, this is a surprisingly good prequel and I recommend it to anyone who liked the two previous pictures.

Again the eternal fight between vampires and werewolves in this exciting prequel set in the Dark Ages. This original and gore-soaked vampires film begins centuries ago. Unknown to humanity, centuries old blood feud raged between aristocrat vampires and subdued legion of werewolves known as Lycans who work as slaves. For centuries Sonja ( Rhona Mitra ) is a loyal soldier of the vampire clan, but she falls in love with the Lycan Lucian ( Michael Sheen ). The tale traces the origins of the confrontation between a ruling class of bloodsuckers and their onetime slaves, the werewolves . A young Lycan named Lucian emerges as a powerful rebel who rallies the rebellious werewolves to rise up against Viktor, Sonja's father and the brutal vampire king . Lucian is joined by his secret lover, Sonja, in his struggle against the Vampire army and his fight for Lycan freedom . Neverheless , the war was not as it had seemed. In one night, the lies that had united the kind vampire had been exposed. Sonja has formed a secret alliance with Lucian, ruler of the werewolf clan to overthrow Viktor ( Bill Nighy ), vampires leader who has enslaved them . But Viktor's lust for power and domination has failed. As Viktor was not the savior they had been led to believe . Soon the hunt would be on for his killer . As the war between vampires and werewolves get more personal and deadly , they decide to launch a full-scale attack on the hideout in order to extinguish the race.

This amazing movie displays noisy action , thrills ride, stirring fighting , graphic violence , brief nudism with mild sex scene and is pretty amusing . It packs large loads of guts and gore , there's a huge body count, this one actually knocks off an immense amount, several vampires and werewolves are staked bloodily in the chest, even more impaled with large claws. There's really savage decapitation, plenty of bodies ripped in scraps and half, including some of the most tears ever, that spill lots of blood and numerous get shot up with arcs . Most of vampires, Lycans and humans victims are relegated to being bitten in the throat and neck and the breathtaking fighting scenes are realized with magnificent special and visual effects as well as excellent make-up department . The film blends horror, suspense, struggles, rip-roaring action, terror and lots of gore. Set design is of first class , settings are stylized, Gothic scenarios , and spooky and ghoulish atmosphere. Specials effects are breathtaking, part of them are made by means of computer generator and part by make up . Bone-chilling and atmospheric musical score by Paul Haslinger and colorful and dark cinematography by Ross Emery. Spectacular and moving direction by Patrick Tatopoulos. He's author of set design and production design of Underworld I and II and known blockbusters, such as ¨10.000 BC, Indepencence day, I robot, Resident evil, Pith black ¨, among them . The interesting screenplay is written by Len Wiseman, who directed the former entries , along with Danny McBride and Kevin Grevioux . All actors and technicians participated in the previous outings with exception Kate Beckinsale , being well replaced by Rhona Mitra as relentless action woman . Recommended to those who amuse those kind of vampires-werewolves films or those enjoy in general.

A medieval tale of the genesis of the Lycans, and how Lucien was born, into the middle of a frying pan, before jumping into fire, making his life rather dire, setting free his fellow brethren and undoing what had been done.

Alas, without Selene, it is an empty can of beans, just an ordinary kind of tale, blows quite limp with a wet sail.

It's only downhill from now on, as the franchise ruptures, the bloods gone, not quite knowing when to stop, perpetually draining a good plot, leaving a husk, a shallow spectre of what was.

Be nice to know what the point of it all is too, aside from megalomania.

Very rarely do prequels match up with their predecessors. As I'm not the biggest Underworld fan, I can honestly say that I wasn't expecting much. However, I should've expected more, as the latest, yet earliest installment is easily my favorite in the series. It ain't art, but it's the shining example of why we go to the movies: to escape into a world of mythology, fantasy, and crazy vampire/werewolf action.

For the first time in the series, the filmmakers have decided to leave out the rock that probably was the reason the films have been successful: Kate Beckinsale. I'm guessing this was a production risk/choice, but it seems to have paid off. Selene's absence from the story is necessary to tell the story of how the Lycans rose to power, how Viktor was driven insane (though we pretty much already know how), and, as off topic as it may be, how simply awesome Michael Sheen is.

Very rarely do the actors make an action movie good. Most action movies rely on explosions and (surprise!) action to enhance the quality and generally feature run of the mill copycat characters. Sheen's Lucian and Bill Nighy's Viktor will always stand out in the realm of action/fantasy characters to me, and it's easy to see why. Sheen's turn as Lucian is fierce, determined, and one of my favorite performances in an action movie I've seen in years. Despite playing a (mostly) villainous role in the first film, Lucian is the hero of this film, and it totally gives you a new spin on things. Sheen's brave and dedicated performance really makes the character work, while Bill Nighy is once again effectively creepy as Viktor. Rhona Mitra's presence as Sonja is welcome, though she doesn't carry the same charisma that Beckinsale does, making her an ill advised choice to be Selene's replacement (as she so obviously is).

The action in Underworld, though obviously restrained by a lower budget, is once again great. There's some nice dueling, the obvious gore and blood galore, and a nice Lord of the Rings style battle at the end. What it comes down to is that Underworld does nothing new, but does everything right in maintaining a steady river of entertainment. I was never bored, and I don't think you will be either.

The film does answer a lot of questions and provides some nice insight to the Lycans (which were my favorite parts about the first two films), though it suffers from the same fate as most prequels do...even a casual viewer of this series knows which characters will live, which will die, and how it will end. The film isn't really about the resolution, but rather the journey to the end. In fact, it's made in such a way that you can certainly watch the trilogy in chronological order.

When it comes down to it, I liked 'Lycans' a lot. It's a worthy installment in the series, and certainly not a disappointment to me. It's got good action, a wonderful lead performance from Michael Sheen, and should satisfy fans of the series and fans of mythological stories altogether.

I came back about an hour ago from the 3:45 showing here in Toronto. I've seen the first two movies, and I have to say I'm glad they brought back Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy; the second film just wasn't quite the same without those two. Lucian is the character you love to sympathize for and Viktor is the character you love to hate.

I'm so very glad the story was more focused on Lucian as it's a nice change from Selene and Michael being in the spotlight (not to mention Michael Sheen's arguably superior acting ability). As for Rhona Mitra, I won't say she was better than Kate Beckinsale but I can't say she was any less of an asset. Not only did she look great, but she executed her lines superbly. I will however say that I find Sonja's character much more interesting than Selene's. The chemistry between Lucian and Sonja was much better than that of the chemistry between Michael and Selene.

The story was much more intriguing, emotional and tragic than that of either of the previous two expeditions (this being of course subjective), as many who recall the flashbacks presented within will agree. It was also faithful to the material, and it's good that they didn't compromise for the sake of "improving" the story.

Overall, I can't think of another prequel that brought such raw emotion to the table, and regardless of the fact that Len Wiseman was not directing this one (though he was at the helm in other ways), you wouldn't know by watching it as it did a good job maintaining the same feel as the first two. The score also added to a lot of the emotion.

In regards to the possibility of a 4th movie: if they choose to continue on from this prequel as I think they should, they should bring in Amelia as she is one of the few characters that has yet to be explored fully.