Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bill Nighy, Rhona MitraBrand: SHEEN,MICHAEL
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown); Chinese (Subtitled); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Korean (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 2.40:1
Running Time: 92 minutes
Published: 2009-05-01
DVD Release Date: 2009-05-12
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Screen Gems
Movie Reviews of Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Movie Review: Terrific Horror Epic In Europe's Dark Ages
Summary: 5 Stars
Third of the Underworld series, Rise Of The Lycans takes place in the medieval Dark Ages, hundreds of years before the first Underworld and the bulk of Underworld: Evolution, and perhaps a (human) generation or two after the flashback portion of Underworld: Evolution where we witnessed the dawn of the vampire and werewolf (or Lycan, in Underworld terminology) races. The vampires reign supreme over a fair-sized swath of territory in Europe, existing as feudal overlords to the frightened humans (who only suspect what the land's masters really are) and have enslaved almost all the remaining Lycans. The Lycans at this time are bestial and aggressive, never taking human form and assumed to be incapable of actual thought (although this is called into question later in the movie). History reaches a pivot point with the birth of a new kind of Lycan - born human, and later capable of transformation back and forth. This is Lucian (Michael Sheen), familiar to viewers of the series, and although the reigning vampire lord Viktor (Bill Nighy, also a familiar face from the previous chapters)'s first instinct is to kill the newborn infant, he hesitates - whether out of compassion or out of seeing the potential in a new breed of slave, one's never quite sure - and lets the child live.
Lucian grows to an adult and, as viewers of the original know, falls in love with the vampire Sonja, daughter of Viktor, which viewers also know is going to be the catalyst for war between the races. We know in advance that their love is going to end tragically, but, as with a movie like Titanic, knowing things are going to end badly only amps up the emotions and the tragedy. Without going into too much detail, Lucian, who's favored among Lycans but still a slave, is already moving down the path of being a potential liberator/semi-messianic figure for his terribly-treated brethren; the horrors of what happens when Viktor uncovers the relationship between his daughter and what he considers a 'beast' seal the path of fate and flames Lucian into leading a full-out insurrection, not only of the slave Lycans within the fortress walls of the vampires' domain, but of the 'wild' Lycans outside.
I initially didn't know how well a third Underworld was going to turn out without Selene (Kate Beckinsale) and Michael (Scott Speedman) in it; as it turns out it worked great. The roles of Lucian and Viktor in the Underworld mythos became even larger, and both actors (who did great jobs in the original) give tour-de-force, multi-facted performances. Sonja (Rhona Mitra)'s resemblance to Selene in both appearance and temperament isn't coincidence: it was established in the first movie that Selene's resemblance to Viktor's deceased daughter was why he made her a vampire in the first place and why he favored her over the centuries. The three leads - Lucian, Viktor and Sonja - anchor the movie so well (and the performers play their parts so well) that the abscence of Selene and Michael doesn't hurt the movie (although I still wouldn't mind if they returned for Underworld 4). The character of Raze (Kevin Grevioux) from the first movie is also present, and his role is greatly expanded on.
Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans is a highly stylized (the most so of the trilogy), grand-scale, effectively gory, horror epic with terrific visuals, action, and a beautifully captured world of iron and stone, forests and labyrinths, ferocious werewolves and icy vampires.
I hope they follow this up with a fourth chapter - whether it takes place somewhere between this one's ending and the start of the first movie, or whether it takes place after Underworld: Evolution (and actually, they could even go back to before the flashback from Evolution, either in an entire movie or in little slivers as just part of a movie); this is a mythos that could continue to expand for a while longer, and could even bring in other creatures/elements from folklore and legend to play a role.
Summary of Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Genre: Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 12-MAY-2009
Media Type: DVD
This prequel to Len Wiseman?s Underworld and Underworld: Evolution is distinctively different, especially minus the nimble vampire warrior star, Selene (Kate Beckinsale). Underworld: Rise of the Lycans takes its cues from the vampire/werewolf battles that occur in the other films, but director Patrick Tatopoulos focuses here on the young werewolf Lucian's (Michael Sheen) rise to leadership. Rise of the Lycans is set mostly within the walls of vampire lord Viktor?s (Bill Nighy) castle, so the film?s silver, black, and blue palette reflects a world happening under moonlight. From the outset, when Viktor brings Lucian, the first werewolf, into the world, this villainous bloodsucker?s daughter, Sonja (Rhona Mitra), is smitten with Lucian?s hairy appearance and instinctual intelligence. As years pass, Lucian grows tired of watching his race suffer slavery and imprisonment, and recruits a human named Raze (Kevin Grevioux) to assist rebellion. This archetypal plot is not so riveting, and what carries Underworld: Rise of the Lycans are the battle scenes between vampires and werewolves, which are excitingly fast-paced and brutal. The whole film adopts a medieval battlefield aesthetic that carries an otherwise clichéd story about illicit love and freedom fighting. Some characters, like the traitor vampire Tannis (Steven Mackintosh), also intrigues throughout, as one guesses who he will ally with. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans may not be the finest film in the werewolf and vampire archives independently, but its mixed monstrosity makes it unique and entertaining, especially on a big screen. --Trinie Dalton
Stills from Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (click for larger image)
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