Review of Underworld (1927) by Cameron J — 07 Jan 2013

Jeez, no wonder Van Helsing stepped up the firepower the year after this film's release, because now he has gun-wielding, acrobatic vampires to deal with, along with Lycans, unless of course he were to just let the vampires and Lycans duke it out amongst themselves while he's off in the corner, where I'd imagine plenty of people wanted him to stay once they saw "Van Helsing". I don't know about blood, but Kate Beckinsale evidently got a taste for dumb vampire-lycan hunting films like this one and "Van Helsing", or at least just strange films altogether, because in 2003, she also did "Tiptoes". Yeah, a dramedy about a full-sized man from a midget family having to deal with the possibility that his girlfriend might have a midget baby seems like the natural progression after this film. Okay, now, I joke, but it's mostly the execution of this film's "story" concept that goes a bit over-the-top, because this film's subject matter isn't too terribly strange, even if its whole "Vampires vs. Werewolves" story idea is still crazy enough to where I can understand why a pothead comedian like Danny McBride would have a hand in this "story" concept's inception. Oh no, wait, this is some other Danny McBride, one who no one really remembers, which is a bit surprising, because you would think that this McBride would be doing more stuff, seeing as how he writes for such a popular franchise. Now is usually the time I would crack some lame joke about how I can't even joke about this film's being written, but this film is over two hours long, so I would hope that this film would deliver on someone to write some resemblance of a story structure, or at least some neat blockbuster set pieces, which of course makes it a shame that I can barely remember if this film delivered on either of the saving graces in question. No, this film isn't that forgettable, being just memorable enough for you to remember its mediocrity, yet not at the expense of quite a few undeniable strengths that save this film from slipping too much.

I joke about using the term "story" loosely when talking about this film, but this film's plot isn't necessarily paper-thin, though its handling is faulty, slipping into anything from faulty storytelling to, of course, conventions, and yet, with that said, as messily handled and derivative as this film's story, there are unique touches, and consistent aspects that are reasonably interesting, familiar though they may be, so the film has some degree of substance intrigue, augmented by a charismatic lead. Now, as I'll touch upon later, acting material is thin, and some performances fault much too much, yet there are some bright spots in the performance department, with one of the brightest spots being the lovely Kate Beckinsale, who may be too talented to be in something this sloppy and thin in acting material, but engages, not just because she's, well, to be frank, hot, even as a literally cold-blooded killer, but because she attracts a degree of your investment with a charismatic marriage of convincing strength and, as Andrew O'Hehir of "Salon" put it, "icy English composure" that makes for a slickly intriguing lead role that is worthy of getting Kate Beckinsale attention as an action star. The film's substance, or at least its lead, isn't entirely cleansed of engagement value, but really, while this film isn't necessarily all style-over-substance, much reliance and need for is directed towards style, something that this film does, in fact, deliver on quite satisfyingly, almost to the point of saving the film from total mediocrity, boasting an almost elegantly bleak Gothic feel, complimented by Tony Pierce-Roberts' sometimes too dark, but generally handsomely well-balanced cinematography, which captures both the grit and slickness of this film's visuals with technical sharpness. Of course, this film's technical value doesn't end with photographic artistry, as this film accels, at the very least, technically, delivering on not only excellent digital and practical effects, but slick editing by Martin Hunter and immersively well-defined and cleverly composed sound design. Needless to say, this technicality is put to particularly good use when behind action sequences that are surprisingly limited in quanitity, but predictably sharp in quality, being well-staged and dynamic, with aforementioned fine technical compliments and an atmosphere that isn't too potent, but at its most relatively gripping. As pure spectacle, this film rarely misses in its deliverance, and there is some undeniable entertainment value that comes from this film's stylistic competence, so much so that the film all but finds itself saved as decent. Still, with all of its nifty occasions, this film, on the whole, fails to "sink its teeth" (Sorry) into you as much as it should, having in share of stylistic strengths, but not enough to obscure the substance faults, of which, there are many.

As I said, Kevin Grevioux's, Len Wiseman's and Danny McBride's story concept has its unique spots, though is primarily driven by its being, at least in concept, meatier than expected, and yet, this film's story concept still has its share of thin areas and natural shortcomings, called more to attention by this film's subject matter's being hardly refreshing, because even with its relatively different twists, this story is one that has been tackled too many times, in concept, alone, whereas Danny McBride's script execution of said overused story concept boasts more than a few areas that have been done to death. McBride's screenplay isn't exactly a disaster, though it is consistently faulty, emphasizing this film's story's conventionalism - nay - genericism by thrusting plotting into one trope after another, made all the more awkward by cheesiness spawned from the occasional over-the-top set piece and many dialogue faults, which are not at all helped by certain performers behind the delivery of said often weak dialogue. Now, as I said earlier, lovely leading lady Kate Beckinsale makes for a charismatic lead, and isn't the only decent performance in the film, as Scott Speedman has his share of engaging occasions, while Michael Sheen makes for an effectively mysterious antagonist, underused though, he may be, and Bill Nighy steals the spotlight whenever it falls upon him with his usual strikingly effective charisma, yet much too often, you're bound to find quite a few supporting performances that range from mediocre to pretty weak, with Shane Brolly being rendered particularly ineffective by his overacting and even often rather glaringly slipping into his Irish accent. Inadequate performances aren't quite as shoddy or even as recurring as some say, yet there are some weak eggs in this batch that is already undercut enough by thinness in actual acting material, thus making for more than a few uncompelling characters, whose engagement value further suffers at the hands at exposition faults that aren't so prevalent that you don't recieve a reasonable degree of understanding of this film's trite characters and story, but certainly prominent enough to place character and story development among the victim of McBride's heavy-handed story structure, which paces plotting sloppily and shoves things along with only so much range and expository slow-down. With that said, as heavy-handed as Danny McBride's plotting is, McBride still finds time to cram in blandness nothingness that pads out this film to its gratuitous two-hour, or, in the case of the unrated cut, near-two-hours-and-a-quarter (why?) runtime, whose needlessness wouldn't be as pronounced as it is were it not for bland plotting's going made all the worse by slowness in director Len Wiseman's storytelling, which isn't, as the consensus put it, "tedious" in its limpness, but limp nevertheless, meeting most every entertaining point with a dull spot. If nothing else, Wiseman fails to capture the Gothic substance, or, well, much substance to begin with, for that matter, to back up his handsome Gothic style, not putting enough effort into compensating for McBride's writing shortcomings, but instead turning in his own directorial shortcomings, until emotional distance ensues and disengages you from the final product much too much. I must admit that I almost like this film, thanks to its entertaining occasions and consistent technical sharpness, as well as a kind charm to its degree of ambition, but the film doesn't quite make the cut, going mostly saved from contempt by its simply being too bland to be bad, making many a distancing mistake that is all but compensated for, but not enough for the final product to escape mediocrity.

Overall, there is some charisma to this film's story concept, as well as quite a bit of charisma to certain performers, - particularly leading lady Kate Beckinsale - to compliment quite a bit of sharpness to visual style, technicality and action, thus making for entertaining spells that all but save this film as decent, but can not cover up the final product's many mistakes, such as story genericism that is made all the more awkward by Danny McBride's trope-heavy and sometimes cheesy set piece structure, - made all the more awkward by some improvable performances - which breaks up an underdeveloped, bloated, when not heavy-handed, and altogether bland plot structure, whose faultiness goes called more to attention by the often slowly-paced and emotionally distanced storytelling that goes into making Len Wiseman's "Underworld" a mediocre effort that meets every entertaining spot with enough blandness to make for a forgettable final product.

2/5 - Mediocre.