On Underworld: Evolution

Hard to believe, but it’s been over two years since Underworld bowed on the screen. For those unfamilar, Underworld told the story of Selene, a Death Dealer (basically, a vampire that hunts down werewolves), who discovers a conspiracy that could break open the vampire/werewolf conflict. It wasn’t a great movie, but it wasn’t without its charms–for a movie in which the major characters were all vampires it sure didn’t seem like a vampire movie.

Now, the sequel’s come out. Underworld: Evolution. And how is it?

Frankly, it’s not particularly good.

The story makes very little sense. If you’ve not seen the first film, Evolution doesn’t offer a helping hand–you need to remember the events of the first film, because Evolution picks up about twenty minutes after Underworld ends. But even knowing Underworld doesn’t help, because Evolution is plotted by what I call the “What the fuck?” method of plot generation–rather than try and explain the last five minutes on screen, the writer comes up with something jaw-droppingly atrocious to obscure how convoluted and inane the story is. Things happen, but there’s no reason, no motive. Things happen with no set-up, no explanation. The audience will, no doubt, sit there and say, “What the fuck?”

The film lacks compelling characters. Tony Curran’s Marcus, though he possesses an interesting backstory, just isn’t that exciting as the film’s villain. Scott Speedman, so useless in the first movie, is even less interesting here. And as with the first film, Evolution seems to be entirely a showcase for Kate Beckinsale’s physical attributes. Even Sir Derek Jacobi seems wasted here.

Underworld: Evolution. Really, really bad. Not recommended at all.

Published by Allyn

A writer, editor, journalist, sometimes coder, occasional historian, and all-around scholar, Allyn Gibson is the writer for Diamond Comic Distributors' monthly PREVIEWS catalog, used by comic book shops and throughout the comics industry, and the editor for its monthly order forms. In his over ten years in the industry, Allyn has interviewed comics creators and pop culture celebrities, covered conventions, analyzed industry revenue trends, and written copy for comics, toys, and other pop culture merchandise. Allyn is also known for his short fiction (including the Star Trek story "Make-Believe,"the Doctor Who short story "The Spindle of Necessity," and the ReDeus story "The Ginger Kid"). Allyn has been blogging regularly with WordPress since 2004.

4 thoughts on “On Underworld: Evolution

  1. “It wasn’t a great movie, but it wasn’t without its charms”

    I believe that line can also be typed:
    “It wasn’t a great movie, but it had Kate Beckinsale in a pvc catsuit”

    you get the dvd?

  2. I could have written about Evolution that “it wasn’t a great movie, but it had Kate Beckinsale out of a PVC catsuit,” but even that scene, out-of-nowhere as it was, hardly redeemed the other hundred minutes of the film. 😉

    And yes, I did receive the DVD. Tennant kicks all kinds of ass as the Doctor. 😀

  3. Me and my friend had an arguement about Kate Beckinsale last night, he says she is at least 39 and I think she is in her early 30s. We have been looking for the correct answer and found your blog in the search engine results, could you please tell us her exact age?

    Great blog.

    Steve & Chris.

  4. Steve & Chris,

    According to imdb.com, she’s presently 32.

    Allyn & Scavenger,

    If you want to “see more” of Kate, check her out in her role in “Haunted” sometime. Good twisted ghost story to boot.

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