Underworld: About Last Night …

Well, there was a nights work; trying to get myself back on-line.

Don’t even GO there.

But I will thank me two kid sisters for helping me out.

Anyway, I managed to catch “Underworld”, last night, with Adrian. And thoroughly enjoyed it.

But with reservations.

It’s a great little film; visually, at least.

And certainly worth seeing, just to see Kate Beckinsale in latex.

I think Adrian’s right, pert is definitely the word to use …

But Underworld does suffer from being a fantastic looking film, with a wonderfully worked-out setting and background that really could’ve done with a bit more work on the dialogue.

Good characters, which were wonderfully acted. Bill Nighy and Michæl Sheen stood out, for me, as Viktor and Lucien. Michæl Sheen, as the sympathetic werewolf leader, Lucien, in particular; I can see why his name gets a mention, at Oscar time, based on this. Both did very well, with what they got …

It’s nicely plotted, as well.

But the dialogue could really have done with work. It felt a bit stiff and artificial in places; it could’ve done with a bit more polish to finish it off, and make it feel more naturalistic; something the sequel improved on, thankfully.

The script for Underworld definitely comes as over as though it’s someone’s first, I think.   Someone who’s keen to show off his thesaurus, as well.

As to the setting … well; the producers legal wrangles with White Wolf, the games company behind “Vampire: The Masquerade” over various copyright violations, came as no surprise to me.   When I originally saw Underworld, its background caught my eye, and had me assuming the people who’d written it had played, or read, Vampire: The Masquerade. The idea of a war between werewolves — or lycans, as the film calls them — and vampires, that both had a much more organised society than outsiders realise, and that both have very complicated politics and history, is central to the game.

It’s a shame “Underworld” couldn’t acknowledge its sources a little more openly.   I always think there’s creativity in games that should be acknowledged.

But it doesn’t necessarily make for a good film, but it IS there.

As a counter balance to that bit of controversy, though, the back story is meticulous …

Underworld is a great film, visually, and worth seeing for that. But I always watch it with the awareness that, for once, the direct sequel is one heck of an improvement. And that somebody wanted to show off their thesaurus …

Cast
Kate Beckinsale	Selene
Scott Speedman	Michael Corvin
Michael Sheen	Lucian
Shane Brolly	Kraven
Bill Nighy	Viktor