 The saga continues as the battle rages on between the aristocratic Death Dealers (vampires) and the barbaric Lycans (werewolves). The film traces the beginnings of the ancient feud between the two tribes as the beautiful vampire heroine Selene (Kate Beckinsale) discovers that she has been betrayed by her own kind and must seek revenge. The fast-paced, modern-day tale of deadly action, ruthless intrigue and forbidden love takes them into battle to end all wars as the immortals must finally face their retribution. Storyline: Underworld: Evolution continues the saga of war between the vampires and the Lycans. The film goes back to the beginnings of the ancient feud between the two tribes as Selene, the beautiful vampire heroine, and Michael, the lycan hybrid, try to unlock the secrets of their bloodlines. This will be a modern tale of action, intrigue and forbidden love, which takes them into the battle to end all wars as the immortals must finally face their retribution. Written by Shewolfinlondon Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman on July 27, 2008 -- All that is certain is that darkness is still ahead. Vampires and werewolves and lots of guns, oh my! What more could a horror/action movie fan want? Quite a bit, unfortunately. In Underworld, filmgoers were introduced to a war between Vampires and Werewolves, where a Vampire "Death Dealer," Selene (Kate Beckinsale, Vacancy), fights to save a human named Michael (Scott Speedman, XXX: State of the Union) from becoming a pawn in a scheme by the Werewolves to create a powerful Vampire-Werewolf hybrid. Underworld Evolution returns the primary characters who survived the first film, continues the story, and provides historical backgrounds on the Vampires, Lycans, and the war that rages between the species, all the while charting new territory and increasing the action violence several times over from that seen in the first film. After some historical background on several characters from the year 1202 A.D., including Marcus and William Corvinus and the now-vanquished Vampire leader Viktor, the film returns to the present day as Selene and Michael seek out the Vampire Marcus who, unfortunately for our heroes, has been awakened and seeks their deaths. Selene and Michael's relationship is complicated by the obligatory romance, and only with their combined powers will they defeat their toughest enemy yet. Underworld: Evolution is entertaining enough fare for a sequel of this nature, but like so many sequels, the film tries very hard to top the first one in style, yet doesn't quite live up to the pace and freshness of the world as first imagined in the original Underworld. This film follows up on the story nicely and logically, feeling like a middle part of a trilogy that progresses the story and delivers excellent action and stunts, but whose tone drags a bit and ultimately doesn't live up to the power of the bookends. Obviously, there isn't a third film yet, though one is in the works (entitled Underworld: Rise of the Lycans) that is said to be an origins story rather than a sequel to the events of Underworld: Evolution. There seems to be an influx of movies lately that try and be as devoid of color as possible (and just as many that try to over-exaggerate the presence of bright primary colors, particularly reds). The effect sometimes works in both cases, and sometimes it doesn't, particularly if the subject material doesn't completely jive with a more surreal, unnatural look. Such a choice to present the films with an overly dark, almost black-and-white-and-blue color scheme, was absolutely the right one for the Underworld films. Not only does such a look add to the dread of the movie, create an unnerving atmosphere, and highlight both the Vampire nighttime preference and Lycan subterranean living conditions, but allows for the unrelenting violence to be just a bit obscured so as not to become over the top gruesome. The Underworld films certainly don't shy away from pouring buckets of blood onto the set and characters, and the darker tone gives it a more sinister feel without becoming too stomach churning. Underworld: Evolution plods along with plenty of blood, violence, and history for fans of the series to gobble up, but offers little substance along the way. Much like the film's color scheme, action over substance sometimes works (as was the case with Doomsday), but the approach fails here. I found it nearly impossible to immerse myself in the story, care about the well-being of the characters, and look forward to any revelations. The action kept the movie full-steam ahead, but I found no other redeeming values. Nevertheless, those who do enjoy this film, and the Underworld universe as a whole, will find a lot to like about this disc. With a transfer that is both drab and handsome, an excellent uncompressed soundtrack, and a decent helping of extras, anyone wanting more Kate Beckinsale in their lives can do a lot worse than this disc. Cast Notes: Kate Beckinsale (Selene), Scott Speedman (Michael), Tony Curran (Marcus), Derek Jacobi (Corvinus [as Sir Derek Jacobi]), Bill Nighy (Viktor), Steven Mackintosh (Tanis), Shane Brolly (Kraven), Brian Steele (William), Zita Görög (Amelia [as Zita Gorog]), Scott McElroy (Soren), John Mann (Samuel), Michael Sheen (Lucian), Sophia Myles (Erika [as Sophia Miles]), Richard Cetrone (Pierce [as Rich Cetrone]), Mike Mukatis (Taylor). IMDb Rating (07/31/14): 6.7/10 from 127,563 users IMDb Rating (11/29/10): 6.6/10 from 49,535 users
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