Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Cast: Michael Sheen, Bill Nighy, Rhona Mitra, Shane Brolly, Kevin Grevioux, Steven MacKintosh, David Aston, Elizabeth Hawthorne, Craig Parker
Language: English
Banner: Sketch Films, Lakeshore Entertainment
Director: Patrick Tatopoulos
Producer: Skip Williamson, Henry Winterstern, James McQuaide
Camera: Ross Emery
Story: Danny McBride, Dirk Blackman, Howard McCain
Screenplay: Danny McBride, Dirk Blackman, Howard McCain
Dialogue: Danny McBride, Dirk Blackman, Howard McCain
Music: Paul Haslinger
Distribution: Sony Pictures Releasing
Year: 2009

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, the third film in the vampire vs. werewolf franchise, takes place over a millennium before the events of the first two installments and chronicles how the war between the aristocratic Vampires and the barbaric Lycans began.

Although vampires, under the rule of the despotic Viktor (Bill Nighy), control the wilderness of eastern Europe, they live in fear of the mindless but more powerful werewolves. No matter how smart or slick they become, vampires still aren't much of a match for werewolves in the brute force department. That's why the vampiric Death Dealers must also rely on crossbows, swords and spears while patrolling their territory.

The advantage the civilized vampires had over the savage werewolves shifts when a captive female werewolf gives birth to a seemingly human child. The boy, who grows up to be the blacksmith Lucian (Michael Sheen), has the power to take the form of either man or beast at will. Lucian is raised by Viktor, but he's a prisoner in his castle and must always wear a 'moonshackle' around his neck to prevent him from transforming into his Lycan form. Viktor also uses Lucian's bloodline to create a new breed of slaves for the vampires to exploit.

If there's anything that Lucian desires more than his freedom, however, it's Viktor's beautiful but fiery daughter Sonja (Rhona Mitra). Lucian and Sonja carry on a secret love affair, tempting death if Viktor were to find out. Of course, he eventually does (otherwise, there'd be no movie). Springing his fellow Lycan slaves from Viktor's dungeons, Lucian leads them in a rebellion against the vampires even as he hopes to start a new life with his beloved Sonja. Viktor, however, has a less happy future in mind for them.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is a different beast than its two predecessors, which were basically The Matrix with fangs. Lycans is a fantasy film not horror or action, and the series' mythology is better served by setting the story in the Dark Ages rather than contemporary times. What seemed pretentious in a modern setting actually plays better within the context of a period fantasy film.

Technically, though, Lycans is just a notch above a Sci Fi channel production. Graduating from designing the past two films to the director's chair, Patrick Tatopoulos does a serviceable job in keeping the story moving along and handling the actors, but he employs the same murky, monochromatic palette of the prior films and his staging of action sequences is hit-and-miss.

Lycans is so oppressively dark to look at that it's tough to catch all the visual details, and its sets are so claustrophobic that the viewer might actually begin to feel anxious being confined in the same setting for so long. It's also shocking how shoddy many of the film's special effects are given Tatopoulos' background.

Michael Sheen, Bill Nighy and Rhona Mitra do what they can to keep the viewer interested in their characters, and it's a testament to the talents of Sheen and Nighy that two of the U.K.'s most celebrated actors have made this derivative franchise watchable. Unfortunately, the story for Lycans is formulaic and predictable; it's Romeo & Juliet meets Spartacus, with all the clich? scenes one would expect from such a combination (e.g., the secret rendezvous of the star-crossed lovers, the hero's rousing speech about freedom to his ragtag troops).

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is really just for fans of the Underworld franchise. If you are one then you might enjoy this origin story and its exploration of the franchise's mythology. Anyone else probably won't get much of a Rise out of these Lycans.

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