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soydog
Least Favourite in recent memory: I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
Reviews
Underworld: Evolution (2006)
If it's not broken, don't fix it.
If anyone remembers the hype around the first movie, they'd recall that almost every site that reviewed the film asked for three things: More body contact fighting (too many gunfights), more blood, and more romance. Many also complained about the skewing of vampire and werewolf lore, as well as the absence of the usual supernatural elements surrounding the two.
Well, the sequel gives us exactly that, in excess. Unfortunately, like when Coca Cola added more sugar to their product and ended up losing much of their original fan base, this took away from the heart the original had.
I personally enjoyed the first movie a lot: the many gunfights were completely justified - in a future where such technology was available, why would the vampires want to dirty their hands more than they had to? The blood wasn't spraying everywhere 'cause it didn't need to, and the romance was exactly what should have happened over the span of like three days. It would have been horribly unrealistic if Selene was all over Michael from the first day they met, instead, he subtly influenced her to question the beliefs she'd spent most of her immortal life abiding by.
I thought the first movie was a well-made, nicely thought-out break from the typical gore fest vampire flick (I wouldn't even put Underworld in the horror category).
The sequel, however, shows that the director listening to critics too much can completely ruin a good idea. The heart of the first film was barely preserved, and although I enjoyed watching it, Underworld Evolution was pure entertainment, mostly fanservice.
I didn't mind it - I enjoyed it when I watched it, but any expectations I had were unfulfilled. I'm not a horror fan in general, nor am I a gore-hound or a vampire flick person, I just liked the storyline and characters for what they were. It's unfortunate that many people who would have liked it didn't see it, probably because it was marketed as a vampire vs. werewolf horror flick, and not as anything with any measure of substance. Oh well.
Dragons: Fire & Ice (2004)
Not entirely bad, but not the best out there either.
Despite the cheap and stiff CG, slightly predictable characters and villains, this really wasn't all that bad. What really stuck out to me was the music, which made the whole thing seem rather epic. I liked the dragons quite a bit, and the thing about Fire, Wind, and Earth was pretty interesting, so overall it wasn't the worst way to spend an hour and a half. Better villains and less predictable heroes is really what this show needs, but seeing as the western world seems to concentrate so much on flashy graphics, maybe a nice dose of traditional animation would have made this one a little more bearable.
The CG isn't that bad either, in fact far better overall than most CG TV shows/kids movies, but unless you're prepared to spend quite a bit on making everything look as it should, please, stick with traditional animation methods.
Underworld (2003)
Remarkably Excellent.
Forget the fact that it doesn't adhere to the Vampire and Werewolf legends. Who cares, really.. They could have evolved from then on. And for whoever said that it was disgusting that Vamps and Lycans could run only as fast as normal humans, must be insane not to have seen the scene where Lucian ran as fast as the car, then jumped atop it.
This is an excellent movie, and if those complainers out there just forgot that it had anything to do with traditional Vamps and werewolves, then they'd seriously enjoy this. Now, I was not a horror fan, in fact, I have always been quite intimidated by the blood, gore, and that kind of stuff in horror movies.. Well, this one is definitely a horror, but I wasn't the least bit scared through-out the entire, bloody thing. Being a mere recently-turned-13-12-year-old, the video store owner was a bit apprehensive of renting me an R-rated movie, so I don't know about younger audiences and such.
Great acting. It blew me away how well Kate Beckinsale, Michael Sheen, and all of them, in fact acted.. The only actor I lament being used, is Speedman. It's either him who's annoying, or his character. I think they could have cast Michael better, 'cause I see absolutely no way that anyone like Selene could ever fall in love with him.. And the romance is quite non-existant, I find.. All it is really, is Selene sort of kissing him, mainly to cuff him to that chair.
And I absolutely love the setting, the long coats, and the double-pistol shoot-out with Selene... Totally awesome. There is little about it that really resembles The Matrix, I find, another great movie. Maybe the leather, and the action-sequence style, but other than that, I can't wait for the sequel, and the 3rd to come out!
10/10 No regrets.