Underworld
Sep. 20th, 2003 05:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
craigoxbrowSo, inevitably, we went to see The Controversial Vampire-Werewolf Smackdown Kate Beckinsale Vehicle.
And... I can see why White Wolf sued. There are differences in specifics, but the general setup of organised vampires and werewolves fighting is enough, even without the vampire-werewolf hybrid being called an abomination in such a way that feels like it should have a capital letter.
That aside...
Kate Beckinsale looks stunning throughout. I'd say the camera loves her, but it's actually the director, Len Wiseman, that loves her. And is now dating her, lucky swine. He focuses on her reactions when other characters are talking - including Bill Nighy as Victor, the other memorable performance.
It generally looks nice, in a washed-out sub-The Crow way.
Never trust a guy called Kraven when he says he did something heroic and there were no witnesses.
This wasn't the only on-the-nose naming. Kate Backinsale's vampire who get involved with a werewolf is called Selene. Get it? Huh?
The initial fight scene is pretty impressive, where the vampires and werewolves appear to be using tactics and purposely avoiding showing fang in public. Unfortunately the werewolves keep avoiding transforming into their big strong monster forms when it would offer a combat advantage, and only reliably change when faced by vampires with huge automatic weapons. D'oh!
One of the two reasons behind the war is quite compelling, and adds the Romeo And Juliet subtext we were promised and that the main couple signally failed to deliver. The other is, urg, pseudoscientific technobabble.
Sophia Myles was cute as (I had to look up the character's name on IMDb) Erica, but I'm entirely unclear on her attitude towards Selene. They seem like friends initially, then later not so much.
And why do the vampires keep locking people in upstairs rooms with windows? Don't they have underground rooms to, you know, avoid the Sun?
It was, on the whole, more fun than that other shiny-catsuit genre smackdown, The Matrix Reloaded, but a lot less fun than an all-out war between vampires and werewolves could have been...
WolfSpoor is still on hiatus, so no review of it there obviously.
By request of playing it forward, subtle plug: Estrangel.
And... I can see why White Wolf sued. There are differences in specifics, but the general setup of organised vampires and werewolves fighting is enough, even without the vampire-werewolf hybrid being called an abomination in such a way that feels like it should have a capital letter.
That aside...
Kate Beckinsale looks stunning throughout. I'd say the camera loves her, but it's actually the director, Len Wiseman, that loves her. And is now dating her, lucky swine. He focuses on her reactions when other characters are talking - including Bill Nighy as Victor, the other memorable performance.
It generally looks nice, in a washed-out sub-The Crow way.
Never trust a guy called Kraven when he says he did something heroic and there were no witnesses.
This wasn't the only on-the-nose naming. Kate Backinsale's vampire who get involved with a werewolf is called Selene. Get it? Huh?
The initial fight scene is pretty impressive, where the vampires and werewolves appear to be using tactics and purposely avoiding showing fang in public. Unfortunately the werewolves keep avoiding transforming into their big strong monster forms when it would offer a combat advantage, and only reliably change when faced by vampires with huge automatic weapons. D'oh!
One of the two reasons behind the war is quite compelling, and adds the Romeo And Juliet subtext we were promised and that the main couple signally failed to deliver. The other is, urg, pseudoscientific technobabble.
Sophia Myles was cute as (I had to look up the character's name on IMDb) Erica, but I'm entirely unclear on her attitude towards Selene. They seem like friends initially, then later not so much.
And why do the vampires keep locking people in upstairs rooms with windows? Don't they have underground rooms to, you know, avoid the Sun?
It was, on the whole, more fun than that other shiny-catsuit genre smackdown, The Matrix Reloaded, but a lot less fun than an all-out war between vampires and werewolves could have been...
WolfSpoor is still on hiatus, so no review of it there obviously.
By request of playing it forward, subtle plug: Estrangel.
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Date: 2003-09-20 03:00 pm (UTC):o)