Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, guys, I'm continuing the "Underworld" series by checking out it's 1st sequel, which came out in 2006. That movie is "Underworld: Evolution".
Now, for those of you who reading this for the first time, about a week ago, I reviewed the first "Underworld" movie. And the best way I can summarize my opinions about it is that I honestly thought it was just okay. It wasn't terrible, but it was heavily flawed with a story that really didn't make a whole lot of sense once you start to pick it apart, along with characters whose motives are ambiguous at best and confusing at worst. And I said that as long as you try not to think about it's flaws too much, then the movie is just fine as a mindless popcorn flick. Which is honestly the best way I was able to recommend that movie to you guys.
So now, that brings us to it's first sequel, "Underworld: Evolution". Now, I'd love to tell you guys everything I know about this movie, but aside from it being a sequel to "Underworld", I really don't know jack shit about it. Well correction, I do know that it stars Kate Beckinsale as Selene once again, along with the other guy, Scott Speedman, who played Michael Corvin from the first movie.
Beyond that, though, I don't know anything about the plot to this movie. The only thing I ask from it is to at least be, in someway, better than the first film. Because that first film's story just didn't really make a whole lot of sense. At least, to me, it didn't. Still though, I'm hoping that this movie will be able to fix some of the problems I had with the first film. I won't know for sure, though, unless I shut up and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Underworld: Evolution".
16 minutes later
Well, guys, I do have some good news. Kraven from the previous movie is now dead thanks to Markus cutting his head off. I'm really thankful he's now dead because he was annoying as fuck in the first movie. So, less I have to deal with him the better.
15 minutes later
All right, guys, I think now is a good time to mention this as any. The blood effects in this movie are absolutely horrible. And I should stress that I'm mainly talking about digital blood. The practical blood here is fine, but every time that I'm seeing CG blood in this movie, it looks like complete shit. Just wanted to let you guys know.
4 minutes later
Well, what do you know? This movie actually answered a slight problem I had in the previous movie, which was whether or not daylight actually existed in this universe. Well, I can officially say that it totally does. I'm actually really surprised by that. I didn't think they would answer something so minuscule about the existence of daylight, but at least they answered that much. That's certainly cool, I guess.
12 minutes later
OK, well that was sorta brutal. Just Michael ripping off another lycan's lower jaw like that is definitely something that I wouldn't think he would be able to do, but at least it shows off Michael's strength as a lorcan himself pretty decently. So at least it's something.
20 minutes later
So...I guess Michael's dead now. And you know what? I don't care. I honestly didn't think he had much of a character to begin with in the first movie, and so to have him die here kinda leaves me empty about the whole thing. So...as much as this movie is trying to make me care about his death...I really can't find myself a reason to care about it.
18 minutes later
OK, well, I guess I was wrong into thinking that Michael was dead. I mean, with him being a half lorcan half vampire, him being killed off halfway into the film would've been really odd. But at least he still lives. It's just kind of a pity that I still don't really care for his character here. But at least he has a chance to make some sort of impact before the movie ends. At least, I hope so, anyway.
The Review
Well, guys, that was "Underworld: Evolution". Let me go ahead and shut the movie off here...OK. So, where to start here? I guess I should answer this much before I go any further into the review. Is this movie good, or at least better than the first movie? Kind of, yes, but that's not really saying very much. I know that may seem a little vague, but honestly, it's gonna be a little hard for me to talk about this one, simply because it's a little bit forgettable. Which sounds more bad than good, but I'm still gonna mention the positives this movie has when I get to it.
Right now, I'm just gonna dive right into this movie and see where I can start with. Why don't we cover the biggest problem I had with the first "Underworld" movie, which was it's writing. I touched upon it a little bit earlier but the writing in that film almost made no sense because of the ambiguous factions between the vampire and lorcans, and you don't know who you're suppose to root for. This movie, at the very least, has a bit more of a cohesive narrative, as the movie just picks up right where it left off from the end of the first movie with Selene and Michael on the run together. And on the flip side, we have Markus tracking down the pendant keys to unlock the door that holds his brother, William, who is also a lorcan, and has also lived for centuries, despite being imprisoned. Which is a little strange, but then again, this is a universe where vampires and werewolves still exist, so I suppose I can withhold my suspension of disbelief there.
So while the story here is more simplified, that actually leads into another big problem that I've noticed. You see, even though this movie is a sequel to the first "Underworld" movie, it really is just more of the same. There's not really much here, plot wise, that is going to catch your interest unless if you were a big fan of the first movie. And as I've already made clear, I thought the first film was just okay. I went into this one thinking that it was going to improve itself, as a sequel should do. And while it sorta does that, at the same time, however, I just don't feel as invested into it as I should be. Sure, stuff does happen here, but I honestly can't bring myself to remember a lot of the details that happened, outside of what I've already outlined for you guys. It really is just more of the same, and honestly feels the same, too, in some areas.
Speaking of, let's talk about the characters. And I'm just gonna come out and tell you guys that all of the characters in this movie are bland and one dimensional. Again, you have Markus, who is looking to free his brother and do...something or what. All I remember from what I heard from his Dad is that he's looking for total power, and when Selene told him that he could've killed Markus at anytime, he basically just uses the cliche saying of 'oh, well he's still my son' and all that crap. But I'm not gonna harp on that one too much. Michael still is pretty much the same character as he was in the first movie, though if I can give him any slight credit here, at least he's more willing to help out Selene whenever he gets a chance because, well, he and Selene are a pairing. Honestly, I never really bought that kind of thing in the first movie and, to me, it just feels a little bit manufactured here.
And as for Selene, well, you do learn a little bit more of her backstory and why exactly her family was targeted in the first place. Which is perfectly fine, however, in terms of her character, she really doesn't go through much change in her personality. Hell, by the end of the movie, it almost ends exactly as it did in the first film with Selene and Michael getting together and Selene monologuing to close it out. I'm not kidding, guys, this movie *really* is just more of the same. And I'm not saying that as a completely bad thing, however, I just wish this movie did more with itself other than just playing it safe. I know the third film is a prequel, so there is a chance we get to see this series do something different with itself. However, I'm gonna reserve judgement on that one until I eventually cover that movie.
But as for this film, well, like I said, the writing here is, well, more of the same of what you'd get from the first movie. And if you liked how the first movie was written, then hey, you're bound to get more of the same here with some minor changes. But as for it being more, well, there's not much else here for story because it's mostly just forgettable. Now as for the acting, well, the acting here is still top notch. I can't really say anything bad about that because just about everyone in this cast did really well with their performances. So on that end, I can at least say that the acting still is consistently good from the first movie to this one.
Special effects, however, are a different story. The blood effects in this movie are horrible. And, once again, I have to stress that this is mainly for anytime the movie uses digital blood, which there is quite a bit of digital blood here. And I'm gonna tell you guys, right now, that digital blood almost always looks like shit. The only exception I can think of is "Stitches" because that movie didn't really use it very much. That, and the digital blood actually felt, well, "real" in a matter of speaking. This movie, however, almost every time there's a blood splatter here, it's almost always digital blood and it looks awful. Now yes, there is some usage of practical blood here whenever it's covering an actor's face, however, that stuff is very few and far between because the usage of digital blood here almost overlaps all of the practical blood effects. Which is completely inexcusable. And mind you, this movie was operating on a budget of $45 million dollars! So there is no excuse for the blood effects in this movie to look so fucking bad.
Now, beyond the digital blood effects, the CG in this movie is fine for what it is. It's not amazing by any stretch, but at the very least, it's still passable. The lorcans look okay, although I do have to question why exactly William looks more like a wolf than an actual lorcan, though I'm just gonna take a wild guess and say that he's a "special" type of lorcan. Don't ask me what that entails, because I don't recall this movie ever mentioning something like that. But anyway, the special effects in this movie are decent best.
Camerawork here is pretty good. The lighting here is lit very well, as it mostly retains the look of how the first movie looked there, which is always a plus. Sound-mixing here is also good. The music is, well, completely unmemorable. Not horrible, mind you, just not really something you're gonna remember this movie by.
So anyway, when it comes down it, guys, can I recommend "Underworld: Evolution"? If you liked the first movie and you want to see more of the same of what was presented there, then you're most likely gonna have a blast with this movie. If you're expecting anything new or different, however, you're not really gonna find much of that here. While the story is more simple to follow, it's also very forgetful, as well. At least, to me, it is. If you really liked the story here, then more power to you. You found something in it that I didn't. Now let me just re-clarify for you guys that I don't hate this movie. I may not care for it, but I don't really hate it. It's just more of what you come to expect from the first movie and doesn't really change very much. And if that's what you liked, then great, you're gonna have a lot of fun with this movie. It's just, for me, I kinda expected more from it. Now whether the prequel film changes this or not, I can't say for sure yet. I'll find out for myself when I get to covering it. In the meantime, however, I'm gonna go and watch "Stitches" again, seeing as how I mentioned it earlier and, well, it's been a little while since I last saw it. So, I'm gonna go and do that right now as soon as I get this review uploaded.
Anyway, guys, with that, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment