Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Leaving work I decided to check out a movie. What should I go see? Well, the Movieguys haven’t said anything about the new Underworld movie yet and it is something I definitely wanted to see. So I decided to check it out and I am so glad that I had the chance to. For those of you who don’t have any idea what this movie is about, let me give you a brief synopsis. It is a prequel to the two that have already been released. A definite explanation for the feud of the Vampires and the Lycans. Lucian, who is a true werewolf in all senses of the word, plays a very large role in this movie. When I say true werewolf, I mean one who is not just a wolf but a fully functioning intelligent human also. See, during this time vampires protected themselves from the beasts of the forests by creating a Lycan slave army. An army that Lucian conducted under Vampire supervision.

Obviously this feud didn’t just begin out of nowhere. Lucian was in love with Viktor’s(the Vampire Lord) daughter Sonja. Lucian grew up admiring her and Sonja the same for him. At one time Lucian was working with the Vampires, but only because he did not want to leave Sonja. He was mainly kept alive to use his blood and create more lycans like him. All other lycans before his birth were just wolfs, cursed by the blood of William and never to be shown as human. Lucian was born a human baby and kept alive by Viktor and his obsession for power. Viktor’s goal was to enslave and use the Lycans as guards and protect the vampires from the savage wolves that attacked the castle during daylight. This explains the amount of hatred the Vampires and the Lycans have for one another. Not only did the Vampires purposely create and enslave Lycans, but something else occurs that creates a more intense hatred…. you’ll have to watch and see.

This was a very enjoyable movie for me and I think most who like this genre would enjoy this movie. I thought it would maybe not be as good as the other two films without the very hot Kate Beckinsale, but it definitely didn’t miss a beat. The plotline was very interesting and didn’t ever lose my interest. The acting was good, but a few of the minor characters could have been better casted or more developed. A few things I didn’t like was the length of the film. It felt short and was shorter than I thought it should be. They probably could have talked more about the origins of both the Lycans and the Vampires to make the movie a tad more interesting and a bit longer. Another thing I didn’t like was the lack of “hero” “kick ass” characters on both sides. You have Lucian, Sonja, and Viktor, but where’s another couple of courageous Vampires or Lycans. Those things aside, I believe it was worth the ten to go see….

Well check it out, and tell me what you think. Or let us here at Movieguys know why you DON’T want to go see it.

Directed by Patrick Tatopoulos

Starring:
Michael Sheen as Lucian
Rhona Mitra as Sonja
Bill Nighy as Viktor
Steven Mackintosh as Andreas Tanis
Kevin Grevioux as Raze
Craig Parker as Sabas

Run time:
92 min