Underworld: Rise of the Lycans – When Vampires & Werewolves Fight, Everyone Wins

Have you, like me, ever wondered what would happen if Hollywood were to crossbreed Braveheart, Spartacus, and Twilight? Didn’t think so. I just happen to spend my idle moments pondering very strange things. So imagine my surprise when Underworld: Rise of the Lycans brought that cinematic mashup to life. The Underworld saga has been a moderate success story of this past decade, sparking the career of director Len Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard) and beating Catherine Hardwicke to popularizing the vamps n’ werewolves genre by two years. They represent an enjoyable fusion of stylish action and Byzantine backstory that genre fans knock back like Pixie Stix. Forbidden romance, political intrigue, eugenics, decapitations, Kate Beckinsale in leather, there’s something for everyone! Now the question looms of whether or not the franchise can succeed in prequel form without Wiseman behind the camera or Beckinsale in front.

Rise of the Lycans kicks off somewhere circa 1200s not long after the creation of vampires & werewolves. You see, in Underworld lore, these fabled creatures of the night are not products of any mystical influence but rather a Spiderman-ish scenario involving two brothers with screwy DNA and run ins with a bat and wolf. More than a little silly, but the script takes the concept seriously enough to sell it. The vamps have been using the 24/7 bestial werewolves as cheap labor until one gives birth to a humanoid child, the first with the more familiar power of full moon transformation. Viktor (Bill Nighy) raises the babe into a psychologically unhealthy combination of son, slave, and pet, all the while using his blood to create more like him. Once grown, Lucian (Michael Sheen) becomes understandably dissatisfied with his lot in life and makes a break for freedom with a little help from his star crossed gal pal Sonja (Rhona Mitra), Viktor’s daughter. Action follows in quantity as Lucian endeavors to free his brethren, get the girl, and teach dad a lesson.

Seeing top notch British thesp Sheen in theatres simultaneously in both Underworld and as half of the titular Frost/Nixon is enough to give a film buff whiplash, but I am forced to respect his versatility and complete commitment to any role he plays. Mitra, while no Kate Beckinsdale, gives a capable performance and looks great in skin tight chain mail. Nighy, however, is a bit of an enigma to me in this role. Movies like Love Actually and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy show that he’s got a natural comedic gift, and his CG drenched turn as Davey Jones in the second 2/3rds of the Pirates of the Carribean trilogy proved he’s got range and villany chops. So when he spends 92 minutes tearing through scenery and overreacting to every little thing, I’m not sure whether I should applaud his intentional arch campiness or just scorn him as the second coming of Ben Kingsley in Bloodrayne. The numerous fight scenes are well choreographed, and just enjoyably gory enough to score an R rating without scaring away girlfriends who get dragged along. But they get a tad on the repetitive side, and the sight of medieval fantasy action shot in a blue/black hue constantly recalls the far superior battle for Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers.

If you’re a fan of the first two Underworlds, don’t hesitate to welcome Rise of the Lycans into its canon. If you’ve run out of Oscar bait to catch up on or just have no interest in such things, you could certainly do much worse than this romp of swords and fangs. But either way, don’t pay more than matinee price.

Grade: Rent it!

Photographs courtesy of IMDB Pro.

To read another review of this movie, check out Underworld: Invention of the Lycra Chain Mail by  J.B. Perlow.