Underworld Evolution
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The original “Underworld” is one of my favorite action/horror movies, and this sequel is just as terrific. Combining a war between vampires and werewolves with some awesome gunfights & hand-to-hand is a recipe for a kick-ass movie, and “Evolution” delivers in spades.

There’s so much of the plot I want to share with you, but if you haven’t seen the first movie, it wouldn’t make much sense, and if you have, you’d be torqued that I gave away some great surprises.

After a short bit of history explaining how the characters fit together (and a mucho-sweet battle scene) “Evolution” picks up mere moments after the first movie ended. Michael (Scott Speedman) and Selene (Kate Beckinsale working the tight leather like a pro) are on the run from the Family, and Lucian is scrambling to make sure Marcus doesn’t awaken.

Selene learns that perhaps Viktor wasn’t 100% honest about her heritage, and she begins a journey towards the truth, on the run once again from the Family. This is a far more personal story for her character than the first film, and instead of being a soldier in a war, she becomes the focus of the story.

She and Michael meet several allies along the way, some more willing than others, and her character is truly fleshed out in this latest installment (and I used the word “fleshed” for several reasons – for both physically and allegorically we’re teased with brief glimpses of Selene’s person, and, um, personal assets if you will).

But let’s face it, a grandiose tale of power struggles and political intrigue is nothing without action, and “Evolution” has tons of it. Guns blazing, fists flying, sharp things getting poked into soft things, the combat scenes are a pleasure to witness. Inventive deaths? You bet your gore lovin’ ass there are! When characters die, you have no notion of them sneaking back into a later scene, they’re quite dead! Several times (especially in the epic battle at the end) I howled in elation and grimaced in sympathetic agony at the carnage. It was great! It had the same crazy over-the-top violence of the first movie, but cranked up another 3 notches on the “oh-shit-o-meter”. If you like your fighting frantic and bloody, this is your flick. It makes the battles in recent comic book films like Fantastic Four and Daredevil look like a high school debate.

“Evolution” is easy to recommend, but only if you’ve seen the first “Underworld”, which you should. There are too many references to be covered in the brief flashbacks, and you’ll appreciate the plot developments if you have a grasp of what happened before.

I love where this series is headed, and this second installment was just as good as the first. The character of Selene is much more likable, and goes through some changes that will make the third chapter very interesting (Scraps predicts a child…you only include a sex scene with ultra-brief nudity to introduce the possibility of a kid, otherwise it would be plain cruel to tease us with being so close to seeing Kate Beckinsale naked and not delivering).

“Evolution” had some big shoes to fill, but it did, and then proceeded to use the shoes to kick a whole lotta ass. It’s a 4 ½ can ride that I can’t wait to see again.

Added:  Wednesday, February 08, 2006

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