Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Good concept, poorly executed.

A Disappointing Continuation

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

This film was my first foray into the Underworld film franchise. I'd known about it for a long time, and I always wanted to get into it. However, it wasn't until last year (2016) that I really decided I wanted to give the series a go. I knew of how the critics weren't major fans and stuff like that, but I knew the films had a major fanbase. Now, believe it or not, the film that got me into this series was I, Frankenstein, the film based on the graphic novel by Kevin Grievoux, who stars as Raze in this film. Unlike many, I quite enjoyed I, Frankenstein, and I decided to try and obtain the Underworld films through my library. Knowing this one was a prequel, I began here, and boy was I not disappointed one bit. Everything, from the action scenes (especially during the big battle between the Vampires and Lycans) to the acting (mostly the performances by Michael Sheen, Bill Nighy, Kevin Grievoux, and Rhona Mitra), were great. There were some flaws, including a few of the special effects, but I'd rather not nitpick. I LOVED this film, and I can't wait to watch the rest of the films.

The worst thing about this film is the excessive lip enhancement procedure that actress Rhona Mitra had done on her face. Every time she was on the screen I was completely distracted by her trout pout. Producers should put a clause in actor's contracts, saying that any body distorting surgeries and/or procedures will be grounds to fire them. I know people have the impression that larger breasts and lips are attractive, but so many of these celebrities go to extremes. It causes them to look bizarre, weird and unnatural. In addition to her crazy physical appearance, I thought Rhona Mitra was just the wrong choice for the part. Overall she's a lousy actress. With a different actress, this film could have been so much better.

I've only seen one film in the 'Underworld' saga; that being the original. Nothing about it compelled me to want to see its sequels (or prequels, in this case). But I'm on this kick where I watch entire franchises in as close proximity to one another as my work schedule and my patience will allow. So after seeing Rhona Mitra in 'Doomsday' and enjoying her performance (if not quite the movie), I checked out her filmography, saw an Underworld flick and... well, here I am.Figured I'd do these chronologically, hoping that might help it all to make more sense as I go (yeah, right). What's here may be a prequel, but the set up of the characters and premise are so thin that it almost presupposes that you already know most of this stuff. Bad move. Anyway, this is all pretty dull stuff. It's sort of a Romeo and Juliet story, and that all works well enough, thanks mostly to a really strong performance by Michael Sheen. However, the "Rise" of said Lycans lacks the epic scope and scale to really sell it, and the action scenes are dull and poorly shot.I'm not sure advancing this tale to the age of automatic weapons is going to make it any better, but I've committed to this, so next stop, 21st century.

For the most part this was a good movie great action, good plot and storyline. But the main problem with this movie (spoiler alert) the vampires in this movie were extremely underpowered . It was almost Luciana vs humans . the vampires showed no speed there was only one show of strength, but other than that they were humans. where as the lycans showed all of the typical abillities of werewolves speed, strength, blood lust the whole nine. but im just one person. like i said other than that it was a great action packed movie . it also was a great back story to the other movies.in the future i would recommend focusing more on the characteristics of the characters them selves .Trevaris