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Post by GL on Dec 31, 2006 12:18:18 GMT -5
“Underworld” isn’t going to change either creatures’ mythologies, but it’s still pretty decent. **SPOILERS** Fighting a war for eons, vampire Selene, (Kate Beckinsale) takes an interest in human Michael Corvin, (Scott Speedman) which her werewolf adversaries do as well. Unable to figure out why leader Kravin, (Shane Brolly) doesn’t follow up on the confrontation, she rescues him from a further attack by werewolf leader Lucian, (Michael Sheen) and tries to understand his importance. While they spend the next few days making various plans for a return for their elder, Viktor, (Bill Nighy) Lucian prepares an all-out war, and with Michael as the key, the vampires race to stop him. The Good News: There are some really nice things in here. The fact that it mixes so many different areas and ideas into it that it appears to be pretty clever. To be plunked down in the middle of a centuries long war between the two sides is nicely played out, and the few encounters between the sides are pretty much the main reason to see this. From the opening shootout that really goes where it doesn’t expect it to go all the way to a slaughter among a train and the drag-down conclusion, there’s a lot of action scenes in here. The assault at the apartment is really interesting, with some really innovative ideas and a really fun appeal. One of the main fascinating sequences is the car chase. Starting on a really interesting notion and continuing on inside the car, it’s a fun watch with some really interesting and drives off enough of the action film chase scene cliches to get some excitement at the end. The ending is really great about it, and that features some more great parts about the chase. The slaughter on the train is really fun to see, as the overall action and high gore make it a really great scene. That also helps it out when it shows it, as there is some pretty good gore scenes in here. From being impaled with razor-bladed throwing discs, gunshots, scratched open across the face, part of the face sliced off and a very brutal bite on the shoulder, this isn’t a gorefest but it didn’t have to be and has just enough for it to be decent enough and appeal to ones who’ll really enjoy it. The werewolf design isn’t all that terrible either, with a large imposing body, long powerful limbs with vicious claws, and a smaller proportionate head than usual, but it still somehow works for the design. Nowhere near the upper echelon of designs, but it works and that’s what matters. The fact that they’re actually live and not CGI is a huge plus, as they look more real and have a bigger degree of realism than other types. The all-important transformation comes back into play here, and the fact that they are also done in real time makes it all the better. It’s not that terrible, and can feature some good moments when it has to. The Bad News: There are several problems with the film, with the biggest one being that it’s just a long borefest at times. Apart from a couple of scenes, there’s no real action here and consists of long conversation scenes that just wear on and on. This is mostly present in the middle of the movie, which has only one action scene to break things up, and after it’s over, there’s a long period of discussion going on. Considering that the two sides are supposedly at war with each other, why so much time is spent on talking is rather curious, and would’ve been far better had this been a really all-out war. That aspect of the story isn’t all that well built-up either, and rather than showing the two sides really going at each other with an intense hatred, the confrontations aren’t that heated until the end and the ones that happen in between are really lackluster when compared to how a war is supposed to be. The CGI is also a factor, since it always looks so obvious and most of the time can be very noticeable. It’s mostly used for what should’ve been big action scenes, and it really detracts from what’s going on. The over-glossy look to the film is one of it’s biggest distraction, and it can be a detriment since, out of nowhere, there’s this incredibly stylish shot that does nothing really for the film. Instead of being of importance to the film, it’s just there because it can be done. There’s really no value for them being there. One of the greatest damaging factors is that, since it plays like an action film, there’s very little actual horror to it. With no scares or an aura of mystery surrounding everything, it really loses on the horror aspects. These elements really hurt the film. The Final Verdict: There’s enough here to like, but there’s also a lot to really get irritated about it. If you can get around the negative parts and accept that it’s a long, drawn-out action film with monsters as the two sides, it should provide some entertainment value. It’s worth a watch, but it’s not as great as what’s been said about it. Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language
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Post by GP on Jul 10, 2007 20:38:39 GMT -5
Here's my take on Underworld. Why not? Once again it's culled from the hallowed boards of Horror Inf3ction.
Underworld As the sequel is just around the corner I decided to sit down and watch 'Underworld: Special Extended Edition' on DVD and then share my thoughts. Exactly what is so special about this edition is totally beyond me but it did give me an opportunity to address a couple more bugbears.
Slow motion. Slow-mo in action movies has been around a long time and every now and again undergoes a fresh and novel revision by an inspired director. Peckinpah made it an important way of enhancing the emotional impact of violence. John Woo made it an art form which has since been much copied but was never bettered until technology allowed the Warchowski's to take it to wholly new lengths. In all its incarnations it has been used as a way to enhance the on screen action and draw the audience into a more protracted and intense visual experience. Who can forget the death of Elias in 'Platoon', such an influential moment in cinema it was pretty much the blueprint for the death of Boromir and will be ripped off until Kingdom Come. Then we have the slow-mo in 'Underworld' which appears to be almost exclusively for the purpose of enhancing Kate Beckinsdale's coat (alongside preposterous WHOOSHING sounds). In fact what is it about long black coats in action films theses days? I remember after 'The Hitcher' raincoats were in for at least ten years before the realisation dawned that the novelty had worn off. We seem to be having the same phenomenon now, begun by 'The Matrix', but with PVC/leather instead. Or is it just a goth thing, after all whenever there's a big fight in 'Underworld' you can tell the vampires from the werewolves not by the shaggy fur and big ears (more on this later) but by their long coats! Next for the block is colour grading. All big budget movies these days are colour graded on computers, the process by which individual frames can be altered by having colours faded up or down in the image to create atmosphere or alter the look of a scene. When one colour is brought up above all others the image is said to be colour saturated. This seems to mean that whilst some film makers will use it to enhance their movie (much like the judicious use of slow-mo), others will decide that skilled cinematographers and lighting gaffers are no longer a necessity in their movie because they can just go and fix it all in post production. Enter 'Underworld'. Overblue. Way Overblue. With a bit of green sometimes.
So what's it all about anyway, well I'm sure everyone knows so I'll keep it brief. Werewloves and Vampires are busily conducting their centuries long war when Selene (Kate Beckinsdale), in her stunning PVC cat-suit, stumbles across a Lycan (werewolf clan) plot to kidnap a certain Michael Corvin (Scott 'forgot what he looked like already and it only finished about thirty minutes ago' Speedman) for some bloodline experiments that their leader Lucian (Michael 'Why does an articulate skinny english bearded geek = mysterious to american audiences but = bland drama school type to me' Sheen) is conducting. Selene is a 'Death Dealer'! I groaned aloud when I heard that. It's her job to kill werewolves. Vampires tasked with killing werewolves are called the 'Death Dealers', not the 'Killer Krew' or the 'Ne'er Do Wellers' but the 'Death Dealers'. Good Lord! So in the line of duty as a 'Death Dealer', killing werewolves in a generic eastern european setting, Selene inadvertantly messes up Lucian's plan and Corvin escapes. Throw in some slo-mo coat action and it's all pretty humdrum so far but wait... A Lycan (all of which up until now have been in human form shooting guns) metamorphosises quite smartly into wolfman form in a subway tunnel and faces down with a vamp, the vampire hisses, the wolf roars, this is it, this is why I watched this film, vampire versus werewolf in a melee, it's gonna be great, the metamorphosis looked cool, the wolf makeup isn't bad, I've seen a lot worse, they go at each other and... we cut away to a train! And therein lies the problem. It promises much but fails to deliver on just about every level. The characters are mostly bland and forgettable, rounded out by vampire boss Craven (Craven because he's a cowardly baddy you see... brilliant) and Selene's hotty competition in the vampire clan whose name I can't remember but she's english, blonde and posh so obviously evil. I said mostly because the one memorable character is Viktor, played in a totally off the wall fashion by the eccentric Bill Nighy (Phillip from 'Shaun Of The Dead').
None of these quibbles should really matter if the central tenet of the movie is exploited, ie vamps v werewolves but it isn't. The confrontations are just big generic gunfights between long coated vampires and short coated scruffy Lycans, in which the Lycans do spectacularly badly. They're like the horror movie version of imperial stormtroopers, completely incapable of hitting a barn door at ten dog paces. When you do see a full wolfman in action he huffs, he puffs, and that's about it, he certainly fails to blow the house down. It all eventually thunders, like an asthmatic sixty-two year old Stalingrad grandmother, to an underwhelming climax of bullets and sewers. I suppose the fact that it only took 134 minutes, and not six months, to get there is a small blessing.
A weak 2 (thanks mainly to Bill Nighy and the catsuit) out of 5.
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Post by GL on Jul 11, 2007 10:18:55 GMT -5
Cool. Nice read. I still enjoyed the sequel more. This wasn't bad but the color-scheme and drawn-out pacing where a big problem. Too many scenes could've been chopped out without disrupting the story.
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Post by GP on Jul 11, 2007 11:57:47 GMT -5
Cheers GL. The whole colour grading business really gets on my nerves and Underworld is one of the worst offenders. The sequel was better but beyond the cool opening suffered from all the same problems. Len Wiseman has directed the latest Die Hard movie I hear, and the reviews suggest another case of style over substance.
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Post by GL on Jul 12, 2007 10:29:49 GMT -5
The color-grading is right up there with my list of offences, right with the chop-socky editing that renders everything moot in the scene. It doesn't look good, it disrupts what the visual is, and it gives me a headache. I don't have ADD, let me see what's going on.
Another big one that I had a hard time getting into with the color-grading was the remake of Pulse. God, that was just hard to get into, is the world really that grey? Way too unnecessary.
I've yet to see LF or DH, but a friend who's seen it has nothing but praise for it. We have the same taste in action films, so I'm hoping it's going to be good.
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