Underworld Rise Of The Lycans Part 2

[Llanque Mazurek]

UnderworldRise of the Lycans premiered at the ArcLight Hollywood in Los Angeles, California on January 22, 2009, and was released in the United States on January 23, by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film received generally negative reviews from critics and grossed over $91 million against its production budget of $35 million.

Lucian is the first werewolf born capable of taking human form and the first to be called a Lycan. Viktor, a vampire elder, raises the child, envisioning a race of Lycan slaves guarding the coven's fortress during the day and working as laborers for the vampires at night. The countryside is filled with savage werewolves born from William's rampage, and human nobles beg Viktor for protection against the beasts: he grants it in exchange for tributes of silver, which enables him to keep his slaves under control.

As Lucian grows up, he and Viktor's daughter Sonja fall in love, and in their adult years, they begin a secretive, intimate relationship. Sonja is reckless and insubordinate, and one night, Lucian escapes the shackles preventing him from turning into a werewolf and rescues Sonja from his werewolf brethren. Despite acknowledging that Lucian rescued his daughter, Viktor cannot forgive the escape and has Lucian whipped and imprisoned.

By trading her seat on the vampire council, Sonja enlists the help of Andreas Tanis in orchestrating Lucian's release. Lucian, unable to flee alone, liberates the other Lycans as he escapes. Sonja remains, planning to meet Lucian in three days. As she prepares to leave, she is visited by her father. Viktor asks if she assisted in Lucian's escape; she denies it, but he discovers the truth by biting her neck and reading her memories through her blood. Discovering her relationship with Lucian, he imprisons her. Lucian recruits human slaves and werewolves to build a force against the vampires. In the fortress, the vampire council and nobles demand that Viktor recapture Lucian, as his Lycans have been attacking human estates, freeing their slaves and offering them immortality as Lycans themselves. Viktor replies that he is confident Lucian will return as he has something Lucian wants: Sonja.

Lucian learns about Sonja's imprisonment and rescues her from her room, but Viktor stops them from escaping. Sonja, hoping to spare Lucian's life, reveals to Viktor that she is pregnant with Lucian's child. Disgusted, Viktor overpowers her and imprisons both her and Lucian. Sonja is unanimously sentenced to death by the council at a trial presided over by her father and is executed by exposure to sunlight in Lucian's presence.

An enraged and heartbroken Lucian turns werewolf, but his attempt to escape the fortress is thwarted by the Death Dealers. However, he can communicate with and control the wild werewolves and summons them to storm the fortress. A melee ensues in which vampire council members, their aides, and lesser vampire nobles are killed. Realizing that Viktor intends to flee, Lucian pursues him, and they fight. Lucian traps Viktor by exposing him to shafts of sunlight, stabs him through the mouth with a sword, and pushes his body down into a nearby body of water. With the battle over, Lucian's deputy Raze declares that "it is finished," but Lucian knows this victory is only the beginning of a war between the races. On a vampire ship fleeing the fortress, Viktor survived his wound and is sealed in an elder hibernation chamber by Tanis.

The opening scene of the first Underworld film is then shown with the voice of vampire Kraven revealing to Selene that it was Viktor who killed her family, not the Lycans. Kraven adds that Viktor spared Selene's life because she reminded him of his executed daughter Sonja. Unaware of the truth, Selene dismisses Kraven's statement as "lies".

In December 2005, Underworld: Evolution director Len Wiseman explained that the Underworld franchise was originally conceived as a trilogy. Wiseman said, "We sort of mapped out an entire history and story... a massive collection of ideas and stories that we're putting out at certain times." Wiseman anticipated creating a third installment for the franchise based on the audience's reception of Underworld: Evolution, which would be released the following month.[8]

In a June 2006 interview, Wiseman said, "The third film is going to be a prequel. It will be the origin story and we find out things we didn't know about Lucian; he'll have a much bigger part in it. It will be about the creation [of the races] and what started the war. It will be a period piece. The film will also focus for the first time through the Lycans' point of view." The director also shared, "In terms of the writing, a lot of the writing has been done. We've been developing Underworld 3 for a while. I won't be directing Underworld: Rise of the Lycans; I'm just going to be producing and writing." When asked if Kate Beckinsale would reprise her role as Selene in the prequel, Wiseman said, "It will be in the time period before, but it will overlap into the creation of her as well. We're in the process of seeing how far we go with that."[9] The following October, actor Michael Sheen, who portrays Lucian in the film series, expressed interest in being part of the prequel.[10]

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans received mixed reviews from critics, and most of the acclaim is attributed to Michael Sheen's performance.[14] On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 29% based on 78 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6/10. The site's consensus reads, "Despite the best efforts of its competent cast, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is an indistinguishable and unnecessary prequel."[15] At the website Metacritic the film has received an average score of 44 out of 100, based on 14 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[14] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[16]

Joe Leydon of Variety gave a positive review, stating that director Patrick Tatopoulos "offers a satisfyingly exciting monster rally that often plays like a period swashbuckler" and that the film is "notably less frenetic (and appreciably more coherent) than its predecessors".[17] He also praised the lead actors for their performances. Leydon felt that Michael Sheen "hits all the right notes in a star-powered performance that will amuse, if not amaze, anyone who only knows the actor as Tony Blair or David Frost", and that Bill Nighy "offers a sly and stylish turn as Viktor".[17] Similarly, Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter stated that the film "rises to the occasion" and that it "finds more life left than would be expected in the darkly stylized if dramatically flawed vampires vs. werewolves saga."[18] He credited this to the "sturdy performances" of Sheen and Nighy and the "tidy, unfussy direction" by Tatopoulos.[18] Also giving the film a positive review was Claudia Puig of USA Today, who thought that the film was "surprisingly campy fun, mostly succeeding through the power of its lead performances".[19] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times commented that the film "offers few surprises other than Mr. Sheen's vigorous, physical performance", articulating that Sheen is "the movie's greatest asset" and that his commitment to his role demonstrated that there is "some benefit to having a real performance even in a formulaic entertainment like this".[20]

This weekend should prove particularly fun for sci-fi fans. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans takes us back to the beginning of the shadowy battle between vampires and lycans, while Outlander presents an altogether new conflict between ancient Vikings and what may be "the next big thing" in monsters of the genre, Moorwens. While each film maintains an engrained appeal for any fan of the category, it's Underworld that proves the better breed, thanks in large part to leads Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen. Outlander has the capable James Caviezel and John Hurt, sure, but neither do particularly well with the half-hearted story; whereas the origins tale for Underworld serves as a deft complement to the series.

Rise of the Lycans is certainly new territory for the Underworld story. Gone are the latex and leather trappings of the first two films, and in their place, chain-mail and armor. It's less sexy and less urban this time around, which were two appealing hallmarks of the series. Lead actress Kate Beckinsale is gone, as well, though she's replaced by the, dare I say sultrier, Rhona Mitra. The story and medieval setting is definitely a different taste, but something that we can gladly sink our teeth into all the same.

Mitra stars as Sonja, daughter to the vampire king Viktor. Despite her lineage and looks, Sonja is a rebellious, fierce warrior who often disobeys her father, opting to fight in battles as opposed to tend to her position on the council. Her side-stepping convention reaches a treacherous level when she gets involved with Lucian , a lycan slave (and Viktor's favorite). We quickly learn that Lucian is but one of a large group of shackled lycans that serve the vampire community, most notably in protecting their stronghold during the daylight hours. The vampires are increasingly in need of protection as attacks against them and their human neighbors, with whom they have a symbiotic relationship, have increased. The assailants are a line of lycans that can no longer change back to human form, and therefore are regarded as mindless, feral beasts. Viktor's way of handling this threat highlights his disdain for the entire race, sparking Lucian's battle to be set free.

Truly, the best part of Rise of the Lycans is Nighy. As the embattled king, dealing with his daughter's betrayal and the bestial uprising from both in and outside his walls, Nighy manifests one of the best vampire characters of the genre I've ever seen. If Viktor was ever taken in a more grounded, Stoker-like direction (e.g. sans the blue eyes and exaggerated surroundings), watch out! Sheen's return as Lucian, as well, is appropriately counterbalanced. I have to give the guy credit for running around in the muck and mud shirtless for virtually the entire film, especially in one scene with Mitra. As for the death-dealing diva, she serves as an acceptable if not better female lead in the story. I'm still out on which one I prefer.

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