2003’s Underworld was entertaining and possessed a low-budget sensibility that made for a surprisingly stylish film. 2006’s Underworld: Evolution, had all the symptoms of a sequel that owed its existence entirely to the first film’s unexpected success rather than a true continuation of the storyline. Since the first movie had a nice sense of history and did a good job of setting everything up, the producers apparently decided to milk that aspect of the storyline for a prequel this time out.
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans takes place roughly 1000 years before the original Underworld. To sum up the storyline for those who haven’t seen any of the Underworld films, there exists an ages-old conflict between vampires and werewolves. According to the opening of this film, werewolves were always animal-like until the unexpected birth of Lucian (Michael Sheen). Lucian possessed a human appearance but could transform into a werewolf. He was deemed to be a Lycan and was kept in captivity by Viktor (Bill Nighy), the ruler of the vampires.
Over the years, Viktor trained Lucian to be an excellent fighter. Viktor decided to breed and train other Lycans to protect the vampire castle from werewolves during the daylight since Lycans can venture out into the sunlight but vampires cannot. The Lycans are fitted with collars that are lined with inward-facing spikes that prevent them from turning into werewolves and, therefore, making it easier to keep them under control.
Lucian begins having an affair with Sonja (Rohna Mitra), Viktor’s daughter. Lucian longs to escape from his vampire-owned shackles and wants Sonja to escape with him. When Lucian removes his collar to help defend Sonja from a werewolf attack outside the castle, Viktor is enraged. Viktor’s hatred for the werewolf side of Lucian overpowers his fatherly bond to Lucian’s human side and Lucian is thrown into the castle’s dungeon where the other Lycans are kept. Lucian begins plotting his escape with the aide of his fellow Lycans, including Raze (Kevin Grevioux), who some will remember from the original Underworld.
For what it’s worth, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans has an interesting story. What lets it down is its high camp factor. First off, many of the action sequences — especially Sonja’s ride to the castle on horseback as she’s pursued by werewolves — look as if they came from a video game. The CGI effects are absolutely atrocious. The dialogue is chock full of self-important speeches and melodramatic grandstanding. How Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen delivered these lines without bursting into laughter is more of an achievement than anything else captured on film in this production.
Director Patrick Tatopoulos, who was the production designer on the first two Underworld films, places a high priority on making everything as dramatic as possible to the detriment of any subtlety. The love story between Lucian and Sonja is punctuated with an awkward sex scene that looks more staged than passionate. Their doomed romance is supposed to be the fuel that ignites the war between Lucian and Viktor but, based on the complete lack of chemistry between the two, that’s as unbelievable as the concept of a thousand year conflict between werewolves and vampires that’s gone undetected by humans.
Despite the relatively interesting concept and the so-bad-they’re-good performances of Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans cannot overcome its faults in virtually every other aspect. While it’s better than the second film, this third entry in the series still pales in comparison to the original. For die-hard fans only.
2.0 out of 5.0 stars
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