|
Reviewinator |
| Starring |
Kate
Beckinsale
Scott Speedman |
| Director |
Len
Wiseman |
| Official Site |
Link |
| US Opening |
September 19, 2003 |
| Rated |
R |
| Genre |
Matrix meets Romeo and Juliet meets Blade
meets The Crow |
| Trailer Clichés |
Slow-motion hero walk, bullet time,
wire work. |
| Explosions |
1 |
| Weapons |
Handguns, razor sharp Frisbees,
assault rifles, sniper rifles, teeth, sword, fists of fury,
automobile, water traveling at high velocity, whips |
| Voiceover |
Yes |
| "In a world where..." |
"...another driven by revenge..."
|
| Spoilage Factor |
99% |
| Geek Factor |
45% (borrows from many popular geek movies,
weapons, dark, almost a Nethack reference) |
| See Trailer? |
No |
| See Movie? |
No |
A four word review for the Underworld trailer would have to read "Been
there, done that."
Some trailers make you think "Wow, that looks cool and original" others
make you think "Wow, that looks like The Matrix combined
with something else." Underworld, unfortunately falls
into the latter camp.
Some movies can synthesize and synergize, but if your only thought
after seeing a trailer is "That reminded me of.." then
you might want to skip the feature.
I must admit that some of the imagery was impressive, but the overriding
feeling was "I've seen this before."
The main characters are vampires and werewolves, and the plot mirrors
Romeo and Juliet Did the creators have any original thoughts?
Vampires and werewolves hate each other. Beautiful vampire and handsome
werewolf fall in love. Beautiful vampire defies her family. We all
know how this one will end, at least I hope it ends that way to end
any possibility of a sequel.
I'm really waiting for a film that makes a quantum leap in fighting
sequences. I know The Matrix wasn't the first to do everything
it did, but it is the most well-known. Now every time I see bullet
time and wire-work I just scream "It's all been done before!"
 |
|
How
much more
Matrix-esque can you get?
|
Even the opening line of the trailer, "The war itself had become
more perilous," instantly reminded me of The Lord of the
Rings trilogy. I know trailers are supposed to use this psychological
ploy to make a connection in your brain between previous successful
films and the new release. The most common technique is to borrow
the soundtrack from other movies. In this case it's overdone. We're
not subtly reminded of other films. They're forcibly inserted into
our frontal lobe like a reverse-lobotomy.
Anyone who plays a lot of Nethack might get a kick out of all the
talk about "lichens." When Beckinsale says, "vampires
and Lycans, werewolves." I fully expected to hear "vampires
and Lichens, fungi." That would've been a much more original
movie.
 |
|
Why
do all the cute ones
have to be vampires?
|
Conclusion on Trailer: Kate Beckinsale is attractive in her
black, skin-tight clothes, but not really convincing as a vampire.
The borrowing of styles from other movies was distracting. Overall,
the trailer didn't do its job of making me want to see the movie.
Conclusion on Movie: There's a possibility it could be good,
but my guess is that possibility is less than 50%. Lack of competition
might make it the only choice this weekend if you're at the theater.
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