Underworld: Evolution

Van Helsing, Blade 2, Terminator. When watching the second Underworld, you sometimes get the feeling that you are watching a hybrid of all these movies. But a very entertaining hybrid, I should say. Wiseman’s directing hasn’t improved one bit since part one. But thanks to having more money, we get a more bombastic story and even bigger craziness than last time. And to top things we get Kate Beckinsale in a latex suit, so who could want anything more from this summer put-your-feet-up movie. (27/09/2006)

Compared to the first part, it is somewhat weaker. Above all, the relative originality and appealing visual concept of the first part does not bear the desired fruit in the sequel, and everything is mired in a large number of visual effects. These effects are better than in the predecessor, but the significantly disjointed screenplay buries everything under a ton of clichés. Kate Beckinsale is great (the erotic scene is beautifully shot), the rest is just some acting filer. The inventiveness is gone, the mythology is boring, and the action is quite inconsistent. The opening massacre of the village in some sequences reminded me of the opening battle in Gladiator, the editing and some camera shots, in particular, are quite similar (I love the blood splatters on the camera). There is more blood, but unfortunately, the quality has decreased. It's not necessarily bad, just somewhat dumber, and the most embarrassing part is in the end - the terminator-like monologue. (16/09/2006)

Exactly one star better than the fist one. There is more and better action, better cinematography and effects, less pompous and empty bullshit (but of course there is no lack of it either), only Wiseman's vampire-lykan mythology remains uninteresting and dull. PS: Scott, I can't tell you how much I can relate regarding the erection... (01/04/2006)

Here we get a dangerously added plot, the mythology of the entire franchise, and yet again the only thing that remains watchable is the latex Kate in the main role. It’s too bad they've added more colors because seeing her love scene in metallic blue again would be more interesting. And I also prefer to keep Derek Jacobi as Claudio in my memory. (31/07/2012)

I did take one star off, but only because it didn't bring anything new compared to the first installment. Then again, the things I liked about the first one didn't get spoiled by the second one, so I had a pretty good time again while mostly switching my brain off. I was just puzzled by the combination of Russian-speaking policemen driving cars with Hungarian signs. (17/04/2017)