Underworld: Evolution

The sequel boasts a bigger budget, resulting in better effects and an overall improved visual experience. However, I was a bit taken aback by the story, where the quality dropped, and it's quite noticeable in the final result. The mythology surrounding the world of vampires and werewolves wasn’t presented as convincingly. What makes up for it is the much faster pace—you truly can’t get bored because something is always happening on screen, keeping you on your toes. Flying Marcus was a bit laughable to me, as I couldn’t quite believe his appearance; it felt rather cheap. The atmosphere was well-executed again, and the darker tone worked for the second time. The absence of Bill Nighy’s vampire character was a real downside. I really liked his character, and Marcus couldn’t fully replace him. All eyes were once again on Kate Beckinsale, who took on the lead role with boldness, and she’s slowly becoming an iconic vampire in the film world. The final fight was effective, with the scene involving the propeller being the crowning moment. It’s a film where the execution and entertainment take precedence over the story, but it will keep you entertained. I give it 68%. (16/08/2017)

Len Wiseman is not a good screenwriter by any stretch of the imagination (I was convinced of this unfortunate fact when I saw the first film) and he is definitely not a good director (which I somehow, strangely accepted last time). Underworld: Evolution amounts to a bunch of awkward dialogues that are supposed to be interludes between the frantic action, which the director used excessively. But according to the motto "too much of everything is bad," Underworld is an overly noisy, flashing, and frenetically edited spectacle that glues together boring dead weight from the plot. For some reason, they strangely cut out the werewolves and the film more or less revolves around strange vampire "politics" that are laughable. The Speedman-Beckinsale duo starts off with a nice sex scene, which is where their pros in the film end. Underworld: Evolution is nothing more than a popcorn movie trying to be something more. It's not enough just to have perfect technical aspects (sound, cinematography, CGI) and dirty-looking sets to add to the film's rawness. It lacks a plot with more sense and maybe a little bit of directorial inventiveness. Perhaps that's why I'm skeptical about the idea of a trilogy. (09/04/2006)

Better action, meaningful mythology, and the ever more attractive Kate Beckinsale still aren't enough for at least a solid film. The Underworld series will forever remain an unfinished great idea for me. Evolution, although aiming relatively high, is brought down by the tiresome crucial battle and trivial conclusion. (07/03/2006)

Compared to the first part, it is somewhat weaker. Above all, the relative originality and appealing visual concept of the first part does not bear the desired fruit in the sequel, and everything is mired in a large number of visual effects. These effects are better than in the predecessor, but the significantly disjointed screenplay buries everything under a ton of clichés. Kate Beckinsale is great (the erotic scene is beautifully shot), the rest is just some acting filer. The inventiveness is gone, the mythology is boring, and the action is quite inconsistent. The opening massacre of the village in some sequences reminded me of the opening battle in Gladiator, the editing and some camera shots, in particular, are quite similar (I love the blood splatters on the camera). There is more blood, but unfortunately, the quality has decreased. It's not necessarily bad, just somewhat dumber, and the most embarrassing part is in the end - the terminator-like monologue. (16/09/2006)

Van Helsing, Blade 2, Terminator. When watching the second Underworld, you sometimes get the feeling that you are watching a hybrid of all these movies. But a very entertaining hybrid, I should say. Wiseman’s directing hasn’t improved one bit since part one. But thanks to having more money, we get a more bombastic story and even bigger craziness than last time. And to top things we get Kate Beckinsale in a latex suit, so who could want anything more from this summer put-your-feet-up movie. (27/09/2006)