Review of Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009) by Ben J — 27 Nov 2010

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is a promising prequel to the great modernization of vampire/werewolf lore found in Underworld. And it made me laugh much more than any action-drama should.

This film delivers cliche emotional moments in a heavy handed way, with little character development to make them believable to the audience. Blaring orchestral cadences and vein-popping screams from the actors make it clear that these are the moments for the audience to feel emotion, but the B-horror movie style decapitations of the previous 30 minutes make these cues unconvincing. The set also falls victim to crudity. The dark aesthetic is a good inclination, but is so overdone that one feels as if the screen is covered with glitter-paint. The stickiness is almost palpable.

It is evident that the producers of Rise of the Lycans spent a fortune on post-production. The number of effects-houses named in the credits speaks to this. But for all the attention paid to special effects, the standard upheld for the final cut is low; crude effects are thrown right in with the good ones. It's true that I did get enjoyment out of watching the over-dramatic zooms and low-quality blood splatters, but not for the reason the filmmakers intended.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans does have a redeeming quality, but unfortunately this lies solely in the fictional world created for the first film. The need to actually use a clip from Underworld for the final scene painfully demonstrates the film's dependence on its predecessor. Although the Rise of the Lycans possesses plenty of promise to deliver a thrilling prologue to the urban horror-action that was Underworld, it brings nothing of its own to the table. The passing remarks from the previous films of the series are enough to explain the entire story of this one, making Rise of the Lycans a sad confession that there was never anything more to tell. This film will not expand upon the distinctive narrative of Underworld, but it will ride it to its grave.