UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS (2009)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
I tried to stay awake during most of "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans," and inevitably I grew tired by the movie's monochromatic look and its cheesy special-effects. This is the kind of woeful horror movie that thinks moonlit action scenes can be exciting as long as there are quick cuts so you don't notice how bad the special effects are. Though the third film in the series is not as boring as the first two, it is easy to dismiss and forget.
"Rise of the Lycans" is the prequel of the series, focusing on the long-gestating war between the Lycans (the werewolves) and the Death Dealers, an elite group of vampires who use the Lycans as slaves. The Lycans find a leader in their group, Lucian (Michael Sheen), who gathers his werewolf compadres to stand up and fight against the Death Dealers. This may be because the lead Death Dealer, Viktor (Bill Nighy), wants his daughter, Sonja (Rhona Mitra), to dance the political game with the other vampire higher-ups in the council instead of fighting the Lycans. Sonja is also, unbeknownst to Viktor, in love with Lucian. Lucian can't have her because he is a Lycan so we technically have a "West Side Story" revamp minus the musical numbers (though a musical might be a good idea) and loaded with racism against Lycans.
"Rise of the Lycans" starts off well enough, and I thought maybe the series was finally realizing its intended goal since devising an origin for these creatures carries a certain original horrific spin. Bill Nighy has always been the exception in these movies, and I loved how he tries to convince his Sonja to stay with the council. I also like Michael Sheen's Lucian (previously seen in the first two films) as the Jesus Christ of the Lycans, who suffers horrendous whippings yet still has the strength to have sex. But all goes south when the movie leaves its premise dangling and there is nothing to latch it on to. Special-effects take over and the werewolf transformations are added ad nauseam (think how "The Howling" managed such scenes in the past with the less is more tactic). Blood and gore fills the screen with one too many werewolf and vampire decapitations and impalings, and the movie's key setup of its characters is completely abandoned. It is a humorless, horror-less and colorless movie with no real sense of purpose. It should've stayed underground.
