Anthony's Film Review - Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)

This standard action flick was not as bad as I thought...

This third movie in the Underworld series does not require viewing of the previous two. In fact, the story in this one appears to be a prequel, featuring an opening introduction that explains the origin of Lycans. Basically, the vampire leader Viktor (Bill Nighy) has captured a werewolf who can appear in human form. Rather than killing this beast, Viktor decides to raise it as a slave. This slave, named Lucian (Michael Sheen), wears a neck guard that prevents him from transforming into wolf form, but he is used to turn ordinary humans into Lycans, which the vampires use in their ongoing feud against the werewolves.

I found the premise interesting enough. Then, something happens rather quickly. The other main character, a vampire named Sonja (Rhona Mitra), becomes Lucian's object of affection. After just one on-screen meeting, they secretly make love. There is almost no emotional or interpersonal conflict afterwards, as if the story is in a hurry to get these two characters in love. You can pretty much guess that the rest of this plotline follows the cliche of two lovers remaining inseparable despite their differences.

The other major plotline deals with Lucian and the werewolves. At first, he does not care about that race of beasts but only because he was taught to think that way. Once he learns about his purpose of spawning Lycans, he changes sides. He leads a revolution to free the Lycans from their imprisonment. The vampires no longer have their Lycans for extra protection. The question now is which side has the upper hand.

Let's not forget that Underworld is also an action movie, not just a horror fantasy. It may be far from a great movie, but the action is perhaps the main reason why I can't truly dislike it. It's fun to watch vampires and werewolves annihilate each other in some bloody scenes. There's just enough action to keep the movie interesting without going overboard.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans has a standard story and an adequate amount of eye candy. Additionally, the acting isn't too bad. I thought Bill Nighy delivered a strong enough performance as do Rhona Mitra and Michael Sheen. Halfway through, I wasn't sure if I'd rate it high enough to put it on the positive half of my 1-to-10 scale. Once the movie reached its climax, I found myself liking it enough to say it's marginally good. That's really all I have to say about Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, visit the Internet Movie Database.

In addition, check out my reviews of the following:

The Underworld Films