Underworld: Revolution

Wednesday we toodled off to go and see Underworld:Revolution.

I didn't hold out much hope, having seen the first Underworld when it was released a while ago...needless to say I wasn't impressed with it at all. Poor Ms Beckensale pouted her way through the role, looking fetching in a very tight outfit (how do they manage to get her in and out of that thing without being taken aback by the sheer smell it must generate....shudder.)

I freely admit to being quite smitten with the second - sorry - sequel. In this instance the sequel is vastly better than the original. However, unfortunately, you still have to have a bit of an idea as to what happened in the first one to follow this one, so you will have to watch it...

The sequel starts in the year 1202 - the lycans have gone insane (funny that!) and have been destroying people and villages. So the vamps have taken it upon themselves to sort it out...

I am one of those very sad people who can't go to see a movie without looking at all the detail - the clothes, the props, the acting, the action...it all has to flow nicely together. I loved the opening scenes where they come across this destroyed village - the vampires are kitted out in fantastic armour - a bit reminscent of LoTR - and they seem to have received genuine instruction on how to fight. One of them even fights with a battle-axe - my own personal weapon of choice (I quote Slaine - "Kiss my axe") and he uses it properly! I was delighted and had to stop myself from jumping up and punching my fist into the air. The lycans looked like lycans - more yay! - and they fought like beasts. It was fab - I prayed that the rest of the movie continued in the same vein.

It did. The sets were so well done - the monastery where they receive help from one of the vampires Selene had "put away 300 years ago" was fantastic and just ancient enough and Byzantine enough to make you realise that they actually did their research, the murals depicting religious scenes were straight out of the pictures in the Coptic churches and what they uncovered in Istanbul. I suspect they shot this somewhere in the Czech Republic or some other tiny ex-Communist country and the starkness and wintry scenes were spot on the create that feeling of worry and fear, showing you just enough to make you comfortable, whilst being that bit foreign to make you feel on edge...

Ah yes. The plot...I diverge too much so I copied it across from somewhere else:

Plot: The sequel to the $100 million worldwide hit, "Underworld: Evolution" continues the saga of war between the aristocratic Death Dealers and the barbaric Lycans (werewolves). The film traces the beginnings of the ancient feud between the two tribes as Selene (Kate Beckinsale), the beautiful vampire heroine, and Michael (Scott Speedman), the lycan hybrid, try to unlock the secrets of their bloodlines. The fast-paced, modern-day tale of deadly action, ruthless intrigue and forbidden love takes them into the battle to end all wars as the immortals must finally face their retribution.

What was good fun to see was genuine loyalty and brains from hencmen/hired help, working for the daddy of the immortals. They took orders, they did what they were told to, they were unswervingly loyal to the old man and didn't swagger, swear or act like brainless eejits - as one expects from henchmen portrayed in all movies - and that was so refreshing. I was quite sad to see them...

Soz - almost gave more of the story away!

Good movie - go see it. All I have to figure out now is how to get myself angry eyes like Selene's...I wonder if the bosses in the Soul Suck will be startled when I put them in when they ask stoopid questions..again!