Melissa Eisele
Pulse Reporter
In the original "Underworld" film, the ultimate war between lycans and vampires was presented. In its sequel, "Underworld: Evolution," the family that created them is explained.
Continuing right where its predecessor ended, "Evolution" begins with Selene (Kate Beckinsale) and Michael (Scott Speedman) on the run from Kraven (Shane Brolly) and his goons after killing Viktor (Bill Nighy).
It is not long before they realize that it is not Kraven they have to worry about. It is the newly awakened Marcus (Tony Curran), king of vampires, who is hunting them down. But Marcus has mutated into hybrid, and he is now stronger, faster and winged.
But why does he want Selene? Because she is the only person alive that knows where Marcus' imprisoned werewolf brother is.
And here's the problem. Selene, according to the movie, is approximately 600 years old, but the war between lycans and vampires began long before she was born. William is the first lycan, and Selene witnessed William being imprisoned. So why did it so long to imprison William?
Another continuity problem is the Corvinus family in general. According to the first movie, Marcus and William mutated after they were bitten. But this movie suggests that the members of the Corvinus family are immortals. This makes the attentive viewer wonder about the third Corvinus brother, who Michael descended from, mentioned in the first movie. Is he still around? If not, why?
While the plot consistency was lacking, the fight scenes were great. The action was crispy, but it moved at a quick pace that demanded total attention from viewers. These scenes were also very gory, but that's to be expected in vampire movies.
The acting in this film was on par with the first installment. Kate Beckinsale returned to play Selene flawlessly. While Selene continues being a butt-kicking death dealer, she definitely has a soft spot now.
Scott Speedman returns as Michael. Speedman portrays Michael as more of a tough guy this time around.
The turn of the two characters is a nice change, and they compliment each other well. In fact, the chemistry between the two leads is better this time around.
This film was not screened for the critics before opening day. Generally, the reason for this is that the movie sucks. The movie isn't as good as the first one, but it is definitely worth seeing eventually.
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman and Tony Curran
Directed by: Len Wiseman
Rated: R
Running time: 105 minutes
Rating:
2 Gus heads out of 4
