Review

Review Date: 21-September-03
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Juicy

Underworld (2003)

My Juicy rating for Underworld comes with a caveat: this film is not a major cinematic achievement and will be appreciated almost exclusively by people who go in for operatic tales of vampires, werewolves, forbidden love, ancient vendettas, and clannish codes of honor set against a backdrop of crypts, castles, and eternally sunless days. Now, if you are such a person — or if you just crave transportation to a world that's 50 percent medieval, 50 percent modern, and 100 percent popcorn — this flick's for you.

Combining monster, action, and girl-power movies, Underworld is the story of Selene (Kate Beckinsale), a vampire "death dealer" who has spent the last few centuries hunting down and killing her mortal enemies, the Lycans (i.e., werewolves). (For you non-classic types, Selene is the name of the Greek moon goddess, so you can bet this story has a twist.) Although she and her powerful clan believe they have driven the Lycans to the brink of extinction, Selene discovers that a surprisingly large number of them appear to be gathering in her city for a mysterious purpose involving a human doctor named Michael (Scott Speedman) and, possibly, the impending performance of an ancient vampire ritual. A dour and single-minded warrior (who, of course, looks smashing in a black vinyl body suit), Selene is hampered in her efforts to root out the Lycans by the suspicious machinations of her tribe's current leader, Kraven (Shane Brolly), and by the unexpected attachment she feels toward Michael, whom she views as the key to the Lycans' secret (as well as a fine looking hunk of man flesh). Her quest sets into motion a serious smackdown between the two ancient races and leads Selene to startling revelations about her true identity, destiny, and calling.

The PR folks for Underworld have played up its supposed Romeo and Juliet connection, but the love story, if you could even call it that, properly takes a back seat to the dogfights, discoveries, and deceptions of the somewhat intricate plot. If I may be allowed to digress, however, I must say I found the Selene-Michael relationship interesting because it follows a general trend that I have noticed elsewhere, which seems to imply that our culture thinks equality between genders is either impossible or simply unsexy. Films with a strong heroine tend to feature men who are feeble or incompetent, whereas films with a strong male hero usually depict women as passive sex objects. Scott Speedman, who offers the requisite chiseled face and abs but also a distinct aura of helplessness (employed in Dark Blue earlier this year), spends the bulk of the movie reacting fruitlessly to things beyond his control, as if more action or initiative on his part would diminish Selene's potency. (It will be interesting to see what happens to him in the sequel so blatantly set up at the end.) Granted, Michael is an innocent swept up in a war he didn't even know was raging, but the other males in the film don't fare much better, particularly Kraven, whose effete petulance elicits perhaps the worst performance of the new millennium from Brolly. Maybe our current reluctance to put a man and a woman on film as equals explains why old movies like The Thin Man remain so engaging: it never feels like one or the other of the stars is on top, because they're both on top. (If that's possible; I'll have to check the Kamasutra.)

First-time director Len Wiseman takes his work here very seriously, which suits the gothic nature of the film, and his grim intensity is matched by Beckinsale (in the only role to date in which I have found her appealing). Underworld is the kind of movie you might find on TV late at night and think you had discovered an unknown gem. It's got history, ceremony, dueling cultures, yearning, and passion, all the myth-making self-importance of a good fantasy. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it's sure to win a hard core set of fans.

Copyright © 2003 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.