Widescreen Review
"The picture is appropriately dark and the color palette is filled with greys and greens." 06/01/2006 p.68Ultimate DVD
4 stars out of 5 -- "Despite the sound and fury, it's ROMEO AND JULIET with vampires and werewolves..." 07/01/2006 p.82 ReelViews 6 of 10
Some reviews virtually write themselves, and this is an example. Underworld: Evolution is so much like its predecessor, Underworld, in story, approach, look, and feel that an extended discussions of its merits (and lack thereof) seems redundant. Suffice it to say that if you're a fan of the first vampires vs. werewolves tale, there's little reason to believe you won't be as entertained by the sequel. Underworld: Evolution is designed with Underworld fans in mind. Others need not apply...Kate Beckinsale shows more polish here than in Underworld. With Van Helsing sandwiched in between, she must be at home with monsters by now. She fills out the suit nicely, but she's not as stiff. A plot "twist" also allows her to do a little acting. Scott Speedman satisfies the requisite of his role: look good without a shirt. Tony Curran is a weak villain, although most of the time the makeup department gives him a boost. With enough prosthetics, anyone can be scary. Finally, Derek Jacobi brings an element of class to the proceedings (and does so without overacting, a seeming impossibility in an endeavor like this)...Underworld: Evolution is representative of the "modern" vampire movie - loud, violent, and raucous. Gone are the days when vampire movies were masterpieces of mood, subdued terror, repressed sexuality, and restrained gore. Instead of a trickle of blood on the neck, we now have vats of it splattering all over the place. Calling Underworld: Evolution a horror movie would be a misnomer. This is an action/adventure film that happens to feature vampires and werewolves. It's not the best or the worst of its kind. I can't say I was bored, but I have a hard time recommending this as anything but late-night cable fare. - James Berardinelli
DVD Talk 7 of 10
There's nothing I love more than being able to sincerely "champion" a good ol' mindless popcorn flick. And while I was wasn't all that impressed with the original Underworld upon first viewing, I've slowly grown a small affection for the flick. So when I sat down to visit with Underworld: Evolution for a second spin, I found myself actively trying to find good things to say...Despite my best efforts, I found only a few small nuggets of pleasure in Underworld: Evolution. I don't think it's an outright crap-heap, as far as action sequels go, but it's just too darn dour, convoluted, and redundant to rally much enthusiasm...Even now I feel I'm being perhaps a bit too kind to the flick, but it'll still earn a place on my Guilty Pleasures shelf, right next to a half-dozen mindless action thrillers that involve vampires, werewolves, zombies, and the mega-sexy women who love to kill them...If you dug the first Underworld, I suspect you'll like this one too, only not as much. And if you hated the first one and you're hoping the sequel's an improvement, I suggest you go ahead and rent something else. - Scott Weinberg
The Onion A.V. Club 5 of 10
In 2003, Georgia-based publisher White Wolf, Inc. sued Sony, claiming that the studio's new film Underworld infringed on various White Wolf role-playing games dealing with vampires and werewolves. Hotly contested among a tiny subsection of geeks and ignored by the rest of the world, the lawsuit ultimately quietly disappeared, reportedly settled out of court, but it was hard to argue that Underworld didn't bear a strong resemblance to White Wolf's games...The new sequel Underworld: Evolution is essentially another module in that same game; it takes up right where the first one left off, takes the exact same tone, assumes (probably rightly) that only the hardcore Underworld fanatics bothered to turn up, and caters to them all the way. Underworld director Len Wiseman returns to the helm, churning out more choppy, sped-up, Blade-style combat and pretty pre-combat compositions. His wife Kate Beckinsale is back as the leather-clad vampire assassin who's discovered dark truths about her lineage; Scott Speedman is back as her newly converted vampire/werewolf hybrid lover. Both are on the run from the thoroughly annoyed winged super-vamp (Tony Curran)...There's a ton of backstory behind Underworld: Evolution, which gets slightly denser and rowdier than its predecessor, but it's ultimately all in the service of a nigh-endless series of numbing, mechanical battles in which snarling protagonists and CGI monsters shoot, claw, and bloodily eviscerate each other. In other words, it's Underworld, but more of it. Like role-playing games, the Underworld films are a highly specialized taste, and those who've acquired it know who they are. Everyone else should give this one a wide berth. - Tasha Robinson
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