How did Kate Beckinsale help iron my clothes! Movie Review: Underworld (2003)

Dark was the night and eerie was the atmosphere! The moon kept moving in and out of the clouds, its silhouette faintly visible from behind the thin ones. Playing hide and seek with the clouds, it came out from behind a particularly thick one, casting its silver light thru the bedroom window. It was in this brief moonlit moment that I first spotted her. She was standing on the edge of the bed, looking down with a serious expression on her lovely face. The mop of jet black hair cascading from her head was cut short, yet long enough to cover her eyes, which appeared closed. She would have fooled any other man, but not me. I could see that they were ever so slightly open. But it did not matter! With her keen olfactory senses, she could have sensed my presence from miles away! She stood coyly, flashing a lycra clad leg from beneath her long leather coat that was wrapped around her tight body like second skin. She held a gun pointing downwards from her left hand. It was clear she was not here to play.


"Do it!" she commanded. "Its such a boring job!" I replied. "Well, that's only if you're alone. Tonight, I'll be your company when you do it. Open up and pop it in!". Something told me not to argue with a woman holding a gun in her hand. So, I opened the buttons, first one, then the other. One more button and the thing slid out from the slot eager to receive that round shiny thing with a hole in the center. There was a slight purring sound.... (or was a whirring sound?) Another button here and there and we were all locked up n loaded! A faint music played from the speakers as the TV came to life with the menu of "Underworld" displayed on the telly! I pressed play on the dvd remote and I brought out a huge load of clothes to iron. It was going to be a long night ladies n gentlemen, for the movie is 121 minutes long!


Starring Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Michael Sheen, Kevin Grevioux, Bill Nighy, Underworld (2003) is directed by Len Wiseman. The movie is very cool and I liked that its complex story held my interest for the full 2 hours of playtime. Underworld is a tale of a long standing feud between the vampires and the lycans. The story is not your ordinary blood and gore tale of mindless killing. What makes it intriguing are intertwined plots of double cross and forbidden love.

For any modern day vampire/werewolf tale to hold my interest, the graphics have to be slick. This is where the movie scores its points. The lycans' transition from human form to a werewolf is pretty cool. It is accompanied with screaming n shirking, but its still nicely done for a horror movie. i.e. It is not at all cheesy like the beginning of this write up :D

The use of flashback adds to the mystery of the story. The flashbacks are not irritating, because they play an important part in the overall story. Beckinsale really has a penchant for such movies. She fits the bill perfectly to a T. Looking cool n coy with a deadpan expression on her face, she has the right look to play the part. Be it a vampire slayer Anna in Van Helsing or a vampire, Selene in the Underworld series, she has the right expression and the perfect amount of paleness to play the parts convincingly. She also has the bod to look cool in tight fitting lycra. Her fitness makes the action sequences very much believable on screen! (of course its all fake action and we know it very well, but it still has to look convincing at that moment, right?)

The head vampire Viktor, (played by Bill Nighy) is a particularly powerful character shown in the movie. It would take a lot of ruthlessness, power and intelligence to rule over an entire army of vampires and to keep them all under check. Viktor's character displays that power and intelligence very nicely in the movie.

I also liked the character of Raze in the movie (played by Kevin Grevioux). Raze's character is that of an evolved werewolf. He is a loyal, ruthless killer who can turn into a wolf at will. i.e. He need not wait for the moon to be full to change form. Choosing a big, burly, muscular guy for the part of killer werewolf was very clever as it makes the transition more seamless and yet, interesting.

Lucian, played by Michael Sheen, is another cool werewolf character. His character is vital to the story as it plays an important role in the feud between the lycans and the vampires. His character can pop bullets out of his head while healing. Pretty cool, ain't it!


I give the movie 4/5 because -
A) Its a vampire movie
B) It has good graphics
C) The story is not at all boring. Its a complex tale well told!
D) Kate Beckinsale helped me iron my clothes! How freaking cool is that! muhahahahahahaha !!
(Ok, it was because she looks pretty freakin cool in Lycra! That was just to satisfy the purists!)


Watch it so you can enjoy the 2nd movie Underworld:Evolution (2006). You can even start with the latest in the series - Underworld: Rise of the lycans (2009). Its a prequel to Underworld (2003).