A friend of mine told me that I should be a movie critic, since I spend a lot of time watching movies, and I'm very critical of what I see. So, I figured, why not, it's my blog, I can talk about what I want to.
Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans
I went and saw this on opening night with my friend. Now, for those of you who have not ever seen an Underworld movie, have no fear, this movie stands alone. That's actually very novel in this day and age, too. This is more of a prequel to the first movie. I'm not really going to go into the details of the movie, because that would spoil it for people who have yet to see it, and there are movie sites that can do that for you.
The movie takes place in the past, I'd say a bit before the dark ages. Naturally, Underworld focuses on vampires and werewolves, or lycans. The costumes that the vampires wore were very intricate, and in the case of many of the female vamps, sexy, and very modern. At the same time, the humans were depicted in clothing that was more in style with what would have been worn back then. As for the lycans, well, when they had cloths, it was more of a type of old fashion armor, generic, something you'd find in any movie that likes leather. Yes, lots of leather, enough to make your mouth water, people.
As for the story, well, as I said before, you really don't need to know a thing about Underworld. This movie really explains some of the things that came up in the first two movies, actually. So, the story was detailed, but it didn't feel over-done. Parts of it felt a but rushed, however. There were time skips in a lot of places, and some of them were not too clear. Also, the passage of time during the battle scenes seemed off. For instance, this one section starts at what you assume is nightfall, and while you're aware that there is a good amount of time passing, next time you see outside, it's well past dawn. It was convenient for the plot, and these problems were easily overlooked, but if you're a fan of logical progression, then it's a little ridiculous.
Another thing to talk about is the characters. Now, the Underworld series tends to have very strong female characters, as well as male ones, and in my opinion, this story fell a bit flat. The two main leads came off as a bit flat. The man was at least slightly more believable, and he became a bit more rounded as you got to know him. The woman, however, remained a bit flat, or at least, a very bad contradiction. She's supposed to be this super-cool vampire warrior-princess type, and yet, there are times she just comes off as the traditional wussy heroine, waiting for her knight. As for the other characters, they were all very flat. You don't really find out anything about any of the other vampires or lycans. The only reason I knew some things was because I've seen the other movies. It was a little frustrating, because these people affect the flow of the story and you have no clue why they are acting the way they are.
The special effects were not bad, though not the best I've seen. As the movie is dark- it's at night, after all- the special effects worked really well. I wish some of the things had been done in the day, like a transformation, so I could have gotten a better look, but oh well. The fights were very nice, defiantly a highlight of the movie. That is where this movie was at it's best, lycans mauling vampires, and vampires defying the laws of gravity.
In all, if you've seen the others in the series, it's worth watching this one, since it does really help explain some things, but because it's a prequel, you kind of know how it's going to end. If you havn't seen Underworld, I wouldn't really recommend this one to start with. However, if you're in the mood for gratuitous violence and scantily clad people duking it out with moves you only wish you could do, then this is a good movie. It was a good movie to see with friends, and most of the people who were at the theater seemed to be in groups. Not really a date movie, fellas, and defiantly not a chick flick, ladies.
I give it an 8/10
Posts
