"Under cover of night, vampires engage in an age-old battle with their sworn enemies, the Lycans, a clan of violent werewolves. Selene (Kate Beckinsale), a vampire orphaned in the wake of a bloody Lycan attack, works for the vampire clan as a trained killer. When the Lycans take a mysterious interest in Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman), an exceptional mortal doctor, Selene struggles to save him from Lucian (Michael Sheen), a ruthless Lycan leader hellbent on ending the vampire bloodline."
One of my guilty pleasures in my teenage years was the Underworld franchise. Well, I wouldn't really say guilty. I love a good supernatural or sci-fi film, and this film created a combined modern vampire/werewolf universe that made room for a rich amount of lore. Of course, back in 2003, this was helped a lot by the leading lady; the ever-gorgeous Kate Beckinsale, who portrays the Selene, the vampire Death Dealer. On the other side of the coin, you have the charismatic Michael Sheen portraying the powerful leader of the Lycans. These two opposing sides of graceful control and raw power created a conflict in the audience where you actually wanted them both to succeed, despite their opposing views.
While Underworld came out before Twilight came and tried to ruin the reputation of vampires and werewolves, it spurred a franchise that effectively ran in direct opposition, both franchises releasing five films; Twilight developed for the more feminine preteen audience, Underworld targeting the more masculine teen audience.
In this modern retelling of vampire and Lycan lore, we have moved away from wooden stakes, garlic, and plain silver bullets. As weaponry and technology has evolved over time, so have the defenses moving into silver nitrate and ultraviolet bullets which brings the battles into a much more fast-paced environment. Gone is the quite skulking around, Underworld is Blade meets The Matrix and Max Payne, in a leather-clad high octane civil war; speeding car chases from subway shootouts, energy has been injected into the more traditional story.
Tension and suspense are very well injected into the film, with the lead protagonist not uttering a single line of dialogue in the opening scene, firing round after round of ammunition from her modified Beretta 93R handguns without blinking; an act that reveals her vast experience in gunplay. The dichotomy between the two different clans is noticeable at nearly every level. The carefully planned and controlled actions of the highly skilled vampires, compared to the rash, mobbing technique of the Lycans which relies heavily on their brawn. Even in the simple act of their transformations shows a sharp contrast; the young vampires simply having their teeth elongate and an eye-colour change, whereas the Lycans have a brutally graphic, bone-crunching transformation that looks incredibly painful to go through.
It very much comes across like an advanced society vs a primitive society, and that underdog status gives the Lycans support from the audience despite Selene, the lead protagonist belonging to the vampire clan. This uncertainty with which side to support is what drives engagement in the film. As you start to support certain specific characters instead of their entire party who are subject to corruption.
The lore is interesting (albeit very convenient), and has such a rich history of drama that it sometimes comes across like a supernatural soap. While much of the action is rather generic, there are a lot of practical effects, and the emotional investment and character development keep the audience enthralled.
The whole franchise of films is shot in a cool blue hue, which makes it look like the world lives in near-constant twilight during a full moon phase. A gorgeous aesthetic for this fantastical world.
Underworld is not the deepest of films. It’s all about entertainment value, and it does it fittingly with a mix of well-written characters and fast-paced action. Kate Beckinsale’s stilted acting works wonders in this role and cements her position as an absolutely stunning action heroine, which my formative teenage years will never allow me to let go of.