Underworld

A film that is the biggest disappointment of the year for me personally. The fact that the touted story of Romeo and Juliet in the world of vampires and werewolves never happens wouldn't matter so much, but an action horror film with entirely unimaginative and static action and without a single thrilling moment is already a problem. On top of that, the acting is mediocre, the make-up effects are crap, the script, besides being pretty simple, has tons of logical errors and the direction is very subpar. It's a shame, because with its premise it could have been so much more. (05/12/2003)

This was alright. Kate in the corset and latex is decent at least. The purposefully colorized black-and-blue-and-white film is pleasing to the eye, but that's about all there is to say about it. Dramatically, it’s too straightforward, so the only films it can beat on points in its genre are the infamous Twilight saga films. (31/07/2012)

We are in the 21st century, gone are the days of individualists with two fangs, now we have whole families of vampires and lycans who organize themselves almost like political parties and wage wars among themselves like mafiosi. Vampires with electronic equipment and a massive arsenal of weaponry are nothing like the pleasantly decadent vampires from, for example, Jordan's Interview with the Vampire. Sorry, Director Wiseman, I prefer the decadent ones, or the posh Count Dracula, who with all nonchalance digs his fangs into an artery and needs no laptops or liquid silver bullets to do it. For a ridiculously low budget of 20 million I was treated to some very impressive images in places, but that’s not everything, script-wise it was as scratchy as Kate's tight leather outfit while walking, the war between lycans and vampires full of machine gun shots didn't entertain me at all, nor did the plot around the blood mixing. Basically, there was nobody to root for. A lot of silly fun, really. (13/07/2004)

Along with Ginger Snaps, Underworld is one of those series featuring monsters that I can't get enough of, despite my mediocre rating. The first episode has a really well done and atmospheric opening, including an introduction to the mythology of vampires and werewolves that draws the viewer into the story. I liked the hierarchy and the overall concept of the world of vampires, who, compared to werewolves (or here so nobly called Lycans), seemed more "aristocratic" – for example, covens and awakening elders. Like more than one user here, I have to comment on some of the illogical or even downright silly scenes that occurred from time to time in the film, such as the floor being shot through with a pistol (overall, Selene had a lot of rough bullets as they pierced the floor and walls at rest), the shooting sequence (a ton of bullets politely losing all the way against a few shots), or (possible SPOILER! ) the final duel between Viktor and Michael, which at times kind of reminded me of an awkwardly done game of strings and flying through the air (end of possible SPOILER!). But not to be a detractor here, I have to give credit to the decently done cliffhanger, which set the stage for the sequel, and also the decent soundtrack. It's a film that I like despite these visible flaws, which is why I like to come back to it from time to time. (03/09/2016)

A terribly naive barrage of action that perhaps suffers from the inexperience of Wiseman as a director; he obviously shot the film with great passion, never letting the viewer breathe a sigh of relief with a relentless sequence of shootouts, chases and werewolf transformations. That's certainly a good thing, but with such a bland and silly story, it didn't really come together. I felt like the film was exactly the same from start to finish and ultimately didn't bring anything groundbreaking to make me remember it for a long time. Apart from Kate Beckinsale, the best was probably the demonic Bill Nighy, whom I couldn't recognize at first thanks to the thorough work of the make-up artists. (02/06/2012)