Torrin-McFinn77 I'd heard so many negative reviews about this movie but I actually saw it in theaters with a friend. This was the first Kate Beckinsale film I actually liked. She made a good vampire she-warrior. It's no longer good versus evil but a story of survival. Who are the true villains? Vampires or werewolves? Or is there something darker at work? There's a lot going on and I found myself wondering who was who and what was going on throughout the film. It went pretty quickly. But in the end, it was a satisfying story that ended with an opening for a sequel. I remember coming out of the theater and hearing two people, a man and a woman, talking about it. They were both older than me, and the man apparently enjoyed it, but the woman said it was stupid. Or something like that. But as for me, it wasn't the worst film I had seen. It's no Oscar contender either but most movies aren't Oscar worthy. I mean, who really needs the Oscars? It's just a clique. Anyway, back to the movie. I was entertained and I especially liked how the makeup was done on the characters. Really creepy but cool. If you want action and vampires and werewolves, try this.

jimbo-53-186511 Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is a vampire warrior who finds herself slap bang in the middle of a war between werewolves or Lycans and vampires because she falls in love with a human host called Michael (Scott Speedman). But it isn't only Selene that is in the middle of this war it turns out that Michael is part of the war too and he is seemingly an integral part of the battle between the Lycans and the vampires....First things first this is a stylistic triumph and it's fair to say that it's hard not to be blown away by the visuals and the whole style of the product. Whilst this has a lot of the Matrix style choreography and impressive visuals what it doesn't have is a particularly impressive story or engaging narrative....There is a war brewing between the Lycans and the vampires and Michael (a human) is unfortunately caught up between the two rivalling factions. Ordinarily, the idea of two warring factions and one man/person being caught in the middle can present itself as being an interesting idea, but with Underworld the whole concept is so poorly conceived and developed that it gets to the point where you find yourself rather indifferent to everything.The film's true shining glory is in its style and presentation; it's clear that director Len Wiseman has watched the Matrix and other Wachowski films as his approach here feels very similar; eye-popping visuals and impressive choreography, but the narrative feels hollow and underwritten and as a story it never really engages.The performances are a mixed bag and whilst Kate Beckinsale is absolutely gorgeous she is very bland in the lead role (and it really pains me to say this as I was a big fan of her late father when he was in Porridge). Her supporting cast do fare better with the likes of Scott Speedman, Michael Sheen, Shane Brolly and Bill Nighy all of whom put in solid supporting performances.One other thing working against the film (other than Beckinsale's performance) is the unrelentingly drab and gloomy tone. The whole tone of the film is way too dark and coupled with a weak and underwritten narrative it also feels quite boring and it's fair to say that the two hour running time feels at least 50% longer than the actual run time.Underworld will undoubtedly impress younger viewers who may get taken in by the garish visuals, but for mature audiences or for anyone with half a brain the dreary tone and weak story are going to serve more as an annoyance and make one wish that they'd left the Underworld well alone.

Fella_shibby I saw this first in a theatre in 2003. Revisited it recently on a DVD. Seen all its sequels in theatre. The plot - Kate Beckinsale is a vampire looking incredibly hot in ridiculously tight leather matrix style clothes whose job it is to eliminate the werewolves as part of the centuries old war between the two species. Her acting is good too. Things change when Beckinsale tries to protect a human, Speedman who is targetted by the werewolves for some reasons. The movie has a distinctively Gothic look, with great attention given to the backdrop. Every inch of the cinematography is polished. The architecture and costumes are true fashion statements. This world is so dense with aggressiveness it is almost surreal. Borrowing from The Matrix and Blade, the director Len Wiseman made Underworld more of a goth action flick n less of a vampire/werewolf. Nonetheless pretty enjoyable action flick. Was happy that none of those hand held shaky cam stuff was added.

gavin6942 Selene (Kate Beckinsale), a beautiful warrior, is entrenched in a war between the vampire and werewolf races. Although she is aligned with the vampires, she falls in love with Michael, a human who is sought by werewolves for unknown reasons.What so you get if you create a world of sleek vampires, make them angry at a world of werewolves, infuse some "Matrix" mojo, and add a blue-grey lens to the camera? You might think "Twilight" or "True Blood" or something else, and you'd be right. Add a butt-load of guns, and you would have "Underworld".Is this Kate Beckinsale's breakout role? I mean, I know she did some BBC films or something classy, but if you live in my bubble (the genre film bubble), this is what you most associate her with, sort of like Milla Jovovich in "Resident Evil". And with about thirty sequels, why not?