Synopsis
Vampires and werewolves have waged a nocturnal war against each other for centuries. But all bets are off when a female vampire warrior named Selene, who's famous for her strength and werewolf-hunting prowess, becomes smitten with a peace-loving male werewolf, Michael, who wants to end the war.
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Cast
- Kate BeckinsaleSelene
- Scott SpeedmanMichael Corvin
- Michael SheenLucian
- Shane BrollyKraven
- Bill NighyViktor
- Erwin LederSinge
- Sophia MylesErika
- Robbie GeeKahn
- Wentworth MillerDr. Adam Lockwood
- Kevin GreviouxRaze
- 75
Christian Science Monitor
At heart, this is an old-fashioned monster flick decked out with Hollywood's full battery of high-tech visual effects. It's as goofy as it is gory -- stay away if you don't like in-your-face mayhem. - 60
Dallas Observer
Visually it's wild fun, since fledgling feature director Len Wiseman started off in production design, and creature designer Patrick Tatopoulos's diverse credits span from "Godzilla" to "Stuart Little." Yet with Underworld's guilty pleasures come copious clinkers, from its nuts-and-bolts narrative foundation to Wiseman's inability to direct actors beyond cartoonish interaction. - 60
Salon
The funny thing about all this is that a half-hour into Underworld I couldn't wait for it to be over. When it really was over, I couldn't wait for the next installment. Go figure. - 50
Variety
Takes itself so seriously that it never has fun with its shopworn genre elements. - 50
Los Angeles Times
Alas, as is often the case with lower-end genre movies, the story cooked up by Wiseman and his friends, actor Kevin Grevioux and the film's screenwriter, Danny McBride, is decidedly less important than the look of the film and its influences. - 40
L.A. Weekly
Beautiful in its dark, contrasting blues and blacks, Underworld is nonetheless a remarkably humorless movie, and not even the adroitly hammy Bill Nighy, as the vampire king, can leaven the overwrought seriousness of it all. - 40
The Hollywood Reporter
Beckinsale delivers even if Underworld doesn't quite manage to follow through on its initial promise. - 40
The New York Times
Achieves only loudness, aggressive confusion and one of the silliest head-splittings in film history.