Maven's reviews are quickly becoming my favorite...not only because I like them from a thematic standpoint, but damn Maven...damn.

mmmmm Maven....-drools-


BUNNY!!!!

is that Count Bunnicula ?????

"What behind the rabbit?"

"It is the rabbit!"

I remember watching this.... I actually rather liked it.

Wonderful review though! I love your costume, by the way....

>I love your costume, by the way....

AGREE!

ouch!

I know absolutely nothing about Vampire: The Masquerade. Honest. Really. Not a thing about Werewolf: The Apocalypse either.

Obfuscate, go!

I found Underworld underwhelming too, the ultimate expression of style over substance that has seemed to have plagued the vampire genre ever since. Hell about only character who was given any real depth was Lucien and he wasn't the main character or even ultimately the primary villain.

I don't why script writers seem hellbent on taking away the negative aspects of the vampire mythology reducing them into nothing more than power/sex fantasies. Without the negative aspects there's no real inherent pathos there and the fact the characters are vampires becomes almost meaningless they're basically just superhumans with no real ethical considerations or dilemmas.

And I'm so glad you raked Kraven over coals for what has to be most unconvincing, over blown, downright Saturday morning cartoon-ish villain performance in a serious action flick in recent memory. His revelation to Selene about Victor was so unmotivated and so poorly delivered I actually LMAO in the theater when I saw it.

I saw the title and the Maven's outfit and said to myself, "I must watch this."

In college, I was one of those RPG/lit geeks (English major here) that the Maven mentions. Heck, I've taught Bram Stoker's Dracula for my lit class two semesters running.

Underworld for me is a guilty pleasure. And I agree with most of the Maven's points in terms of the flaws of this movie.

But Lucian (Spelling) does change, in fact he goes through a rather vicious looking moment when he is expelling silver bullets from his body - and honestly, Michael Sheen is probably my fav thing about this movie.

And the whole "she's been this way her whole life, how could this love angle possibly work" bit - I think that's the point. She's been living this one way for so long, with nothing but the fight day in/day out (or night in/night out). This guy is not only something new and different, but from the weird moment they have when they first see each other it seems like there is an attraction there. Plus, by the end, with her life in the coven (can't believe I just used that word) proven as a lie, and her old enemy still her old enemy, all she has is this guy who she's shared a few moments with.

Personally, I enjoy the movie, though I think the 2 movies that came out of it are better. The prequel especially, and altogether they're not bad. Can't say much for the new one though as I've not seen it but I hear good things from friends. Long and short of it though, I think ppl would have to be nuts to see the trailer and go in expecting the depth of something like Interview...

And I don't know why you'd watch the mythbuster stuff on this sort of thing - it's like the History vs Hollywood episodes they put on some DVDs. "Hope you've ejoyed the movie, now sit back while we tell you how unlikely the events in this movie were in real life". Talk about killing the magic! It's escapism, I don't care if it's totally realistic! Besides, talking realism in a vampire/werewolf movie is worthy of an eyebrow-raise.

Anyway, good-hearted mini-rant concluded. Interesting review, in all. And with the sort of vampire movies you seem to review, I'd be interested to know what you thought about "30 Days of Night".

Dude I totally agree with you here!

Werewolves are the working class heroes to me. Vampires are toffs.

Though I tend to go for the Constructs as they're apart from humanity too.

Nice cat suit.

It's kind of amazing that there's gonna be a fourth Underworld sequel. Good vid, Maven. Lupa's face on the last imrpov definitely said, "yeah, I think that's enough"

This first Underworld is kinda fun to watch for movie that rips off World of Darkness.

lol... ppl...

seriously the world of darkness would make a great film or show, cant wait for the MMO

Yeah, between the dependance on blood and the adverse reaction to sunlight, I'd preffer being a lycanthope to being a vampire, at least for their weakness you actually have to be shot or stabbed with it.

I liked the first Underworld, the second one was better, and the Pequot was ok.
Take a bow my lady that was a fun review.
Loved the Lupa cameo.
Again I know this is a character you play but still lay of the eye shadow you look so cute without all that makeup............... just saying.
Looking forward to your next review.

Sums up my feelings pretty well. This film was just below mediocre, and the sequels were an exercise in lowering the bar until it was underground. (Unless 4 was magically good...)

Annoyingly my friend arranged a marathon of these over a weekend. Dear God was that a bad weekend. He still maintains they're good films, though.

Ah Underworld. These movies are one of my favorite guilty pleasures as a vampire/werewolf fan. The Characters are weak and they don't really do anything with the supernatural aspects just like you say, but the in-universe lore behind the species is really interesting and the action is rather spectacular IMO. In fact the final battle between Victor and hybrid Micheal is one of my favorite action scenes period. There are also a few neat transformation scenes for the lycans and for Micheal when he becomes a hybrid, which I like. All in all I can't call this a good movie but it is one of those I find myself popping into the DVD-player when I'm in a mood for supernaturals.

Oh, and I think the appeal of werewolves over vampires is the whole "inner beast" thing. They are people who live one human life mostly devoid of the supernatural but have to battle the instincts of the beast within them, and occasionally they completely lose control. You get some of this in many incarnations of vampires too with the thirst for blood, but the contrast between the civilized and the beastly is much stronger in werewolves. They also have a few perks in powers compared to vampires. I for one would much rather be allergic to silver than sunlight, especially if both choices result in immortality anyhow. After all, the only reason werewolves live in such crappy environments in these movies is because they are hunted by vampires.

I was LARPing when the first two flicks came out, and our ensemble went as a group to them and had a great time. But movies are very shallow.

Whose rabbit is that? Who in your group has a thing for rabbits?

That was not a rabbit! That was clearly a moo cow! Didn't you hear the sound effect?

Nice! I really dont like this movie series, but i do like your videos Lisa ^^

Keep em coming :)

I actually liked the fact that there was no romance between the leads. Until the sequel came out I thought that was intentional and that the "Romeo and Juliet" part was (1) a misdirect for the pitch and (2) actually referring to Lucian's backstory. At the end of the movie I thought, "Thank you for not making the obvious romantic couple an obvious romantic couple." They respected each other, but there was intentionally no chemistry.

... Then the sequel came out and that point got dashed.

*sigh*

Also, apparently there are no modern-day female werewolves. No wonder the guys are foaming at the mouth and are completely unkempt. They desperately need the feminine touches of a woman... or any vampire.

*evil grin*

I'm tired of Vampires keeping the werewolf down.

and the funny thing about it is, werewolves and vampires used to be one and the same in certain mythologies, throw in witches as well. The creature known as the Strigoi in Romanian mythology had traits to all 3. For example, if your mother is a witch and, its likely you'll become a vampire after death, but in life you can shapeshift into a werewolve type of creature.

Also Dracula was able to turn into a pretty bad ass big wolf in the original novel...so really why cant the wolves and vamps just get along?

I found this movie pretty lackluster overall, but you really hit the nail there with the vampires almost being indistinguishable from humans. Yes, they're living creatures in this story, so fainting from bloodloss and drowning in water makes sense, but why not show off some more specific weaknesses like sunlight?

Also, the thing with everyone and their grandmother having armblades got really tired.

I didn't mind the movies at all, personally. I found the first one funny for some scenes and quite the spectacle for others.

My favorite part is Selene viewing Michael's hospital file. Pausing the video to look it over I noticed the following email address:

michael_corvin@hotmale.co m

That sort of colored his character for me for the rest of the movie.

I'll admit Underworld was a great movie from a visual standpoint, but the second the characters open their mouths it was over: bad acting, twelve hours of backstory crammed into 90 minutes, it was one of the most boring movies I've ever seen, that made money.

I really love your reviews! You have interesting analyses and good insight in what makes a vampire or supernatural character compelling and intriguing.

But I must admit to liking werewolves. ;D
I just don't like the idea of immortality, and besides, I faint when I see blood and needles and, also, fangs. ;)

Personally, I enjoyed "Underworld" a LOT more than the similarly action-oriented "Blade" - but yes, it is a pretty mediocre film featuring all of the flaws mentioned in this review.

I did not even bother to watch the sequels after the spectacular crap-fest named "Underworld: Evolution" (which, let's face it, stole at least half of its plot from Blade II, and was the most hare-brained and unbearable vampire flick since "Van Helsing").

Oh, and one final word?

Elisa - you ROCK!

Oh... Van Helsing: my biggest, most shameless guilty pleasure ever. xDD I LOVE that movie, it's bad in all the RIGHT ways. So fun to laugh at.

It tries hard to be the entertaining kind of trash, but - in my opinion - fails spectacularly at that task.
*Most* trash films are fun because the humour is either unintentional (Ed Wood's oevre) or just WAY out there (Attack of the Killer Tomatoes).

But Van Helsing? That film commits the worst crime such a movie can be found guilty of: it is staggeringly BORING, in spite (or because) of all the explosions, fights and painfully written lines of dialogue.

Ah, Underworld: quite possibly the greatest concept to get the worst possible execution.

Vampires: A bunch of pretentious, bucket-headed snobs who spend eternity at well-dressed parties that look about as much fun as a dinner party with Miss Manners. Except Miss Manners probably has good food instead of the same plastic bags of synthetic blood. Orgies? Nope. Feasting on humans? Not allowed. Vampires do, however, spend their free time lobbying on behalf of the cattle industry, hence their all-leather wardrobe. Contrary to popular perception, these vampires have no super powers except for Selene who has exactly one power: the power to have all the powers she wants.

Werewolves: A bunch of homoerotic, stupid slob who spend most of their time living in their own filth in the sewers. No girls allowed! Seriously, Underworld, if you don't have any ideas about how to make a werewolf race go to Barnes and Noble and buy yourself a book about wolves. I did this once and I was pretty surprised to find out that female wolves do indeed exist and are about half of the species. That said, at least the werewolves have a cool new nickname "the lycans" so that they can appeal to the 12-15 demographic. They also fight fair and are nice enough not to attack the vampires during the day. After all, if they did that, the movie would be over in minutes.

However, I can honestly say that the battle scenes in Underworld are far, far, far better than those in the other famous Vampires vs Werewolves franchise known as Twilight.

I know right! D: Were are all the sexy girl beasties?! We want wolfgirls!

You furries creep me out.

Your loss.

truer words have never been said....

Lycan is short for lycanthrope...

Great review. My only complaint is not including any footage from an episode of The Real Ghostbusters where a village of vampires and a village of werewolves get into a veritable bite fight and all become hybrids in the ensuing melee.

I have to admit, for some of the movie's flaws (whether miniscule or noticeable) I really do love this movie.


Selene is badass but she has heart, she is loyal to her covern but is not afraid to question things. And of course, as we can see, she averts the whole damsal in distress role as much as possible by getting herself out of tight situations. I really like her character.

Yeah the movie is a bit style over substance but I like it. Someday I am going to add it to my collection of DVDs. Someday.

Great review Elisa :)

So what are the chances of you reviewing Angel (the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin off show), since it stars and is named after a vampire?

Or she could review Forever Knight, the series that Angel shamelessly ripped off.

Okay my favorite part of this is the fact that the still frame for the Werewolf RPG was actually a photoshop that replaced the title with "WTFwolf". Which pretty much sums up my experience with that game.

I'm glad that Maven picked up on Selene's compulsion or phobia of using doors or stairs. I mentioned it in the previous review for Underworld: Awakening. I'm actually surprised one of the clips here showed her opening up a cabinet (instead of tearing it off the hinges, shooting it, punching through it, or something).

I'm vaguely interested in seeing a review for Razor Blade Smile, but looking at it on IMDB, I'm guessing that one might actually be better for Lupa to handle. Maybe another crossover!!

Werewolf - the Apocalypse was actually quite a decent RPG that took the whole shapechanger-theme in a totally unconventional direction (rather than just being VtM with furry monster player characters rather than pale monster player characters.)

From what I've heard, the reboot totally ruined that game, though...

Yay! Another vampire review!

Yeah, Underworld was kinda 'meh' for me too.

I never got into the whole vampires vs. werewolves thing. I loves me some vampire fiction, but I think the werewolves would win handily (at least they would against the kind of vamps I like to read about). The only reason they never do is because the people who generally write this stuff just want their vampires to be the ubermensch, and at that point... well, it's like you said, there's no narrative reason for them to be vampires anymore. Also, I think Underworld gave the best backstory for the whole thing I've seen so far: personal feud.

Anyway, I can't wait to see what you review next!

Maven is so hot