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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Ever notice how leftovers
develop an unsavory taste the third time you serve
them? They may still look good but you know
something is definitely wrong.
"Underworld" has been warmed up one too many
times. Borrowing from other films, literature,
etc. is fine if these elements are forged into
something unique. If "Underwhelmed" (oh sorry,
"Underworld") had come out in 1995, it would have
been hailed as stylistically groundbreaking and
adventurous. Instead, it's the latest rethread of
"The Crow"/"Dark City"/"Matrix" look that's been
dominating feature films over the past five years
(and the comic book world a whole lot longer).
It's all surface sheen with little substance.
There's the kernel of a good genre idea at the
heart of this big budget disaster but it isn't
developed. First borrowing heavily from "The Crow"
(which "The Matrix" borrowed quite a bit from as
well), "Underworld" would have worked better if
director Len Wiseman had chosen a different look
for the film. There are some films that are so
derivative they become a tasteless paste of
pre-chewed ideas, a pastiche of arty composition.
"Underworld" falls into this category. The
performances hardly register and the characters
are little more than gothic ciphers. The creaky
script plays like a refugee episode of a canceled
Fox television series and the dialog sounds like
it crept in through the window from a bad Saturday
morning cartoon. Surely with all that money
floating around someone should have realized that
there was a better way to spend it -- like a
deserving charity.
Seline (Kate Beckinsale) hunts down Lycans (a
fancy way of saying werewolves) as part of an
ongoing war between the two species. She's what's
referred to as a Death Dealer. Perhaps if she
chooses to quit her night job, she can find
something in Vegas. She becomes involved with a
human who's being hunted by the werewolves.
Unfortunately, before Seline reaches him, he's
already been bitten by a werewolf. It's clear that
the werewolves need him for a specific reason --
that remains a mystery until the final scene in
the film.
The DVD looks exceptional despite some minor
compression artifacts. And the sound jumps out
and, well, bites you.
There are a number of really interesting and cool
features, but this film is all about surface so
that's no surprise. While commercials can be a
great training ground for feature films and
television, they teach you to tell a story
compactly with little substance but lots of fuss.
This aptly describes this lost film; "Underworld"
could have been told much better as a 1-minute
commercial. What's done and said in the trailer
pretty much sums up the experience of watching the
film.
It used to be said that television was a great
wasteland. Instead, it appears that feature films
have begun to take up the slack now that
television has become respectable. |
