Underworld 2

What do you get when you combine a vampire with a werewolf?

Main Cast: Kate Beckinsdale, Scott Speedman, Tony Curran, Derek Jacobi

Director: Len Wiseman

Plot Summary: The vampire Selene continues to fight both the vampires and werewolves in order to hide the hybrid Michael. The most powerful vampire wishes to awaken the most powerful werewolf (his brother), and Selene must stop this from happening.

I think this sequel is better than the original. Sometimes it does happen! I think the original tried to cram too much into such a short amount of time: characters were introduced and we weren’t given enough chance to figure them out, to figure out on which side (vampire or werewolf) they happened to be. The sequel distills the characters down to a handful, and they are unique enough to keep confusing at bay.

And the plot is much simpler. It all starts way back in the middle ages, with two brothers: Marcus the vampire and William the werewolf. And despite the fact that these two sides are at war, Marcus loves his brother. Unfortunately for them they are both put into a deep sleep (I don’t know why they weren’t killed over the years, but I guess they were really well hidden). When Marcus wakes up he wants to find his brother.

Along another thread (the main one), Selene (Beckinsdale) the vampire is fighting both sides. She is protecting Michael (Speedman), a vampire/werewolf hybrid. He’s valuable to both sides, although I’m not sure whether they want to keep him or kill him. That isn’t made completely clear, but it really doesn’t matter. Selene and Michael get caught up in Marcus’s quest.

Can they stop the most powerful vampire on Earth? Can they defeat him and the most fearsome werewolf on Earth? Uh- well, they are the two protagonists. I’ll allow you to answer that question for yourself. In the meantime I can say that this is a pretty good film, moving along briskly with just the right amount of action and dialogue. While not fleshed out completely, the characters do work, and the plot isn’t cluttered like the original.

I can recommend this one: you don’t really need to see the first (there are enough flash-backs to let you know what’s going on), but it may help in at least placing the world story. Just don’t expect #1 to be as good.