Underworld (Widescreen Edition)

Exclusive Date Score:

7/10

If your date enjoys these types of fantasy movies, this will make a great date film. Of course, you take the chance that he'll/she'll hate it and leave early.

Blade meets The Crow and The Matrix in Underworld, a hybrid thriller that rewrites the rulebook on werewolves and vampires. It's a "cuisinart" movie (blend a lot of familiar ideas and hope something interesting happens) in which immortal vampire "death dealers" wage an ancient war against "Lycans" (werewolves), who've got centuries of revenge--and some rather ambitious genetic experiments--on their lycanthropic agenda.

Given his preoccupation with gloomy architecture (mostly filmed in Budapest, Hungary), frenetic mayhem and gothic costuming, it's no surprise that first-time director Len Wiseman gained experience in TV commercials and the art departments of Godzilla, Men in Black, and Independence Day. His work is all surface, no substance, filled with derivative, grand-scale action as conflicted vampire Selene (Kate Beckinsale, who later became engaged to Wiseman) struggles to rescue an ill-fated human (Scott Speedman) from Lycan transformation.

It's great looking all the way, and a guaranteed treat for horror buffs, who will eagerly dissect its many strengths and weaknesses. --Jeff Shannon
 

 The fast pace is broken up with intriguing sidelines... but I found the biggest part of the movie to be the mainstream movie introduction of werewolves and I'm sure we'll now see more movies featuring werewolves and less with vampires. Well done.  - Robert Lee, aLoveLinksPlus.com reviewer

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