Unnecessary prequel(..was there anyone who was crying aloud for another film in the Underworld series?)has Lycan(..half-human/half-beast)Lucian(Michael Sheen), a loyal slave / blacksmith under the rule of aristocratic vampire race led by Viktor(Bill Nighy), revolting against his masters, motivating his brethren, in bondage as well, treated as animals, imprisoned and ready for freedom. Lucian is in love with Viktor's daughter, Sonja(Rhona Mitra)and vice versa, committing an affair behind his back when they can find a chance..Lucian has a means to reach her room by way of an access tunnel underneath his place of work. While Lucian and certain human werewolves have their humanity, there's a pure blood race of wolf-beasts which live in a huge cavern, picking off vampires and the pure human "nobels" who the bloodsuckers need for nourishment(.."grass they graze")on a well traveled road which leads to Viktor's castle. The humans question Viktor's abilities to keep them safe after a werewolf attack leaves many who accompanied them from their village dead(..the humans mine silver for the vampires). Lucian, after saving Sonja's life from a werewolf attack, is punished by Viktor for removing his collar(..a silver collar keeps the Lycans from turning into beast form)in order to keep her from perishing..it is established here that Lucian has the ability to control the beasts, their listening to his command. As is to be expected, Lucian and Sonja's affair will be discovered, Lucian will be placed in prison and face certain death, and the war between vampires and Lycans will be raged, the full blood beasts finally unleashed on the bloodsuckers in a violent finale.
Forbidden love between two different races(..or families, think Romeo and Juliet) along with the rise of a browbeaten people against those who rule over them with an iron fist(Braveheart) are quite familiar themes and Underworld:Rise of the Lycans doesn't really tread any new ground regarding them. The film is edited so madly, and shot in such a dark and blue Gothic hue, the action sequences featuring the beasts attacking their enemy fail to generate the expected thrills..heavy dependence on CGI, which might explain why the filmmakers shoot the gory ultra-violence in such a way as to not call attention to how much the wolf-beasts look like monsters from a video game. The moon is giant and bright and shown quite often. Sheen gets a showy hero role, while Nighy fulfills his duties as a pompous vampire leader whose contempt for the Lycans evident in how he treats Lucian. Nighy seems to fashion his role in correlation with the kings in Europe, how the aristocracy frown upon those in a more unfortunate position, the Lycans merely peasants, cattle. Kevin Grevioux has a nice supporting role as a deep-voiced human slave who is turned into a Lycan, becoming Lucian's muscle, his lieutenant in their newly formed army. Mitra is cast appropriately as Sonja, resembling Kate Beckingsale quite a bit, her pouty lips and well defined figure ideal in a role that requires a certain type of sex appeal. The vampires wear blue eye contacts, their skin pale white, costumed as royals. Lucian is sweaty with plenty of chest hair, carrying a "wolf-like" appearance.
As is often the case when dealing with prequels, it's hard to build suspense when one knows that the villain and hero neither die because both show up in the other movies in the series.
Forbidden love between two different races(..or families, think Romeo and Juliet) along with the rise of a browbeaten people against those who rule over them with an iron fist(Braveheart) are quite familiar themes and Underworld:Rise of the Lycans doesn't really tread any new ground regarding them. The film is edited so madly, and shot in such a dark and blue Gothic hue, the action sequences featuring the beasts attacking their enemy fail to generate the expected thrills..heavy dependence on CGI, which might explain why the filmmakers shoot the gory ultra-violence in such a way as to not call attention to how much the wolf-beasts look like monsters from a video game. The moon is giant and bright and shown quite often. Sheen gets a showy hero role, while Nighy fulfills his duties as a pompous vampire leader whose contempt for the Lycans evident in how he treats Lucian. Nighy seems to fashion his role in correlation with the kings in Europe, how the aristocracy frown upon those in a more unfortunate position, the Lycans merely peasants, cattle. Kevin Grevioux has a nice supporting role as a deep-voiced human slave who is turned into a Lycan, becoming Lucian's muscle, his lieutenant in their newly formed army. Mitra is cast appropriately as Sonja, resembling Kate Beckingsale quite a bit, her pouty lips and well defined figure ideal in a role that requires a certain type of sex appeal. The vampires wear blue eye contacts, their skin pale white, costumed as royals. Lucian is sweaty with plenty of chest hair, carrying a "wolf-like" appearance.
As is often the case when dealing with prequels, it's hard to build suspense when one knows that the villain and hero neither die because both show up in the other movies in the series.