If the franchise ends up lying dormant for too long, it's possible that audiences will be treated to a reboot rather than a sequel, and the rumored Underworld TV show could finally come together. In the meantime, Beckinsale has continued to flex her action chops , and her new film Jolt hits Amazon Prime on July 23rd. Tim got his start when his short biography on Augusten Burroughs was published in , and his career has seen him write video game walkthroughs, web content, and interactive fiction for mobile platforms.
Share Share Tweet Email 0. Related Topics Movie News underworld. Michael Sheen returns to do tolerable work as a werewolf freedom fighter with decent abs and extremely good hair.
Director Patrick Tatopoulos stages a handful of competent action sequences, including a rousing werewolf attack on a vampire fortress armed with massive mounted crossbows. But there are also scenes set in a gloomy gothic council chamber , as vampire elders discuss the various finer points of vampire politics and policy, which feels a little too much like watching vampire C-SPAN.
Nighy is excellent, though, strutting through his scenes in a gloriously elaborate black, floor-length coat that glitters in the castle moonlight. It is not a good performance, exactly, but it consistently enlivens the screen, for Nighy seems to accept the movie on its own terms without casting judgment, as if inviting viewers to do the same.
The story is set more than a decade after vampires and werewolves were discovered and the two species were violently purged. Selene then encounters a new coven run by Thomas, a vampire patriarch played by Charles Dance. Speedman never returns, thank goodness, but Beckinsale is one again forced to share much of her screen time with a boring male companion. As in every Underworld movie, tracking lineage and bloodlines plays an important role. Early on, Selene discovers Eve, another vampire-werewolf hybrid who turns out to be her daughter.
At some point, actor Michael Ealy shows up as a detective whose wife was a vampire, and shoots a machine gun at some werewolves. Even Dance, normally an intense and effective presence, seems wasted in a role that is mostly designed to evoke his turn as Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones.
Underworld: Blood Wars : The most recent addition to the franchise brings another coven, another conspiracy among the vampire elite, and another hairy werewolf rebel scheming to destroy his vampire enemies. The father-son pair of Thomas and David returns, and one of them dies.
So, for a little while, does Selene. She is the franchise, and the franchise is unkillable. The story tracks a plan by the vampire Semira Lara Pulver , a council member with the Eastern Coven, to eliminate her rivals and consolidate control.
In the Underworld movies, vampires often read memories by drinking blood, which results in a series of scattered images that are sometimes hard to follow, but the vampires always seem to know exactly what they mean. Five movies in, the lore, never especially interesting or coherent to begin with, has grown dense and unwieldy, its relationship to the franchise trajectory unclear.
The point is to watch vampires and werewolves fire endless rounds of ammunition at each other while wearing stylish black clothing. The Blood Wars finale takes place inside an old mansion and involves a horde of werewolves with guns shooting a coven of vampires with guns, which seems like the logical apex for this vampires-and-werewolves-shooting-each-other-obsessed series.
The werewolves — while still in human form — use imposing metal riot shields, because these movies are nothing if not obsessed with cool-looking tactical gear. In fact, many of this franchise's mysteries can be explained with the words, "Because it looks cool. You can also find his pop culture opinions on Twitter VinnieMancuso1 or being shouted out a Jersey City window between 4 and 6 a.
Image via Sony. Share Share Tweet Email. Related Topics Movie Features Underworld. Vinnie Mancuso Articles Published. Michael Sheen reprised his role as Lucian in the Underworld prequel, Rise of the Lycans which details the origin behind the centuries-old war between the vampires and werwolves. Raised as a slave to the vampire race, Lucian develops a romantic relationship with his master's daughter Sonja.
Earning the respect of his fellow lycans, Lucian raises an army against the vampires, leading to an all-out pursuit of revenge when his lover is brutally killed. In the historical drama film, Sheen plays British journalist David Frost. Still covered in blood from a day of shooting, Sheen happily obliged and went to his trailer, asking someone to take a picture of him. The actor later had the picture sent to Howard who decided to frame it and have it displayed.
In Underworld: Evolution , the relationship between Selene and Michael becomes more romantic. In the first film, Selene helps him escape from the Lycans but he is bitten by Lucian, who reveals the reason for the feud between the two races and his desire to create a hybrid of the species.
Seeing their growing attraction mirrors the love he once had, Lucian helps Selene and Michael uncover the conspiracy and aids them in killing Viktor.
After avoiding an attack from the newly-awoken Marcus, Michael shields Selene from the rising sun by driving her to an abandoned warehouse and darkening the windows with black paint. Once they are safe, the two share a passionate kiss, slowly undressing each other before making love.
During a moment where the two look longingly at each other, Wiseman surprised everyone by blasting Bryan Adam's "Everything I Do" leading to the cast and crew bursting with laughter. Part of the success of the Underworld franchise is due to its talented cast. In the eleventh episode of Season 3 entitled "Utopia," the 10th Doctor and his companions encounter the mysterious Professor Yana, played by Jacobi, at the end of the universe. Little do they realize the elderly man is secretly the Doctor's greatest enemy, the Master, in disguise.
After regaining his memory, he regenerates into a younger version of himself played by John Simm. In Season 5, the 11th Doctor aids Vincent van Gogh, played by Curran, fight off an alien only he can see. Bill Nighy has an uncredited appearance as a museum curator and devoted fan of the deeply misunderstood artist. The fifth installment of the Underworld franchise, Blood Wars , features cast members from various seasons of Game of Thrones.
Known for his stoic yet cruel demeanor, he insists all that he does is for the betterment of his family despite having little affection for them. In Blood Wars , Dance plays Thomas, one of the leaders of the few remaining vampire covens. In her desire for power, she attempts to become a hybrid, discovering a way to become immune to UV light. The first Underworld film became the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit by White Wolf Inc.
Collins in September The author claimed the plot of the film was based entirely on her short story "The Love of Monsters," published in , which involves a forbidden romance between a vampire and werewolf.
Collins also went on to claim between points of similarity between the popular film and White Wolf Inc's various role-playing games such as Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse , which is where the problem arose.
Both games take place in a "fictionalized 'goth-punk' version of the modern world," which the Underworld universe has been compared to many times. The suit was privately settled outside of court for an undisclosed amount.
While the main plot of the Underworld franchise centers around the centuries-old feud between vampires and werewolves, the original pitch for the first film was meant to be more romantic. Intended to be presented as a "Romeo and Juliet for vampires and werewolves," hints of what was supposed to be can still be found in the forbidden love between Selene and Michael. Selene comes from the ancient race of vampires, trained as a Death-Dealer who hunts Lycans.
Michael is a human descendent of the Corvinus bloodline who is bitten by the Lycan leader Lucien. Their paths cross when Selene discovers the Lycan's plot to make a hybrid of the two species.
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