Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Every war has a beginning.

Plot: The prequel of the series, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans tells the story of the first Lycan half-breeds and the start of the war between Lycans and Vampires. Lycans were bred as slaves and day protectors of Vampires, until Lucian (Michael Sheen, Underworld), a well-trusted Lycan, leads a revolt against the Vampire captors. With the help of Sonja (Rhona Mitra, Doomsday), Vampire princess and daughter of Viktor (Bill Nighy, Underworld & Underworld 2), Lucian’s revolt against the Vampires becomes the start of the war between the two races.

When it comes down to it, Underworld 3 has simply retold a more detailed version of the story presented in Underworld. If you’ve seen Underworld, then you know the story of Underworld 3. TV spots, based on a single critic’s review, claim that Underworld 3 is the best of the series. I wouldn’t go that far. It would be more accurate to say “Underworld 3 is a movie in the Underworld series.” It was a great addition, but it wasn’t the best.

Underworld 3 had all of the elements of the previous movies: gore, violence, action, Vampires, Lycans, a sexy young Vampire in love with the enemy. Unfortunately, it was lacking something key that the previous two had: an original story. Since Underworld 3 is a prequel, you can almost forgive this flaw. However, it’s a prequel that you already know the exact story, since they told you the story in the first one! I think, given the extra detail you get from having an entire movie made from a story that comprised less than 10 minutes of Underworld, this can be forgiven, too.

The big problem I had with the movie was that I was bored, because I already knew what was going to happen. Maybe not exactly what was going to happen, but close enough to be left wanting. The action sequences were great, but – like most American action movies – the camera was too close to the action and it leaves you missing the big picture. Sure, you can see the arms flailing with hands holding swords, and yes, you can hear the contact of blade against blade, but what you’re missing is the flow of the action. Movement starts at the feet and legs, and extends through the torso and arms. Why don’t filmmakers let us see that? If you’re going to spend all the time and money on fight choreography, don’t you think you should show us what you paid for?

I think anyone that enjoyed the first two Underworld movies will enjoy this addition, but don’t go see Underworld 3 with expectations of seeing something new. It’s still Vampires fighting Lycans, and it’s still the same story, and you should expect as much. I enjoyed it, but as I’ve been told before (time and time again), I’m a sick son-of-a-bitch. Get some.

Quarantine

It’s nice to have finally watched a good movie after all the I’ve had to sit through lately, and it’s even better that I’ve finally seen a good horror movie remake!

I had the privilege of watching [REC] a few months ago, and I have to admit that the idea of an English remake based on the same script (even if slightly modified for American audiences) seemed like a good idea. Now that I’ve seen Quarantine I can say that it was a great idea.

There are differences, other than language, that clearly show that remaking a movie for an American audience requires specific changes that, quite frankly, shouldn’t have to be made.

Most noteworthy changes in the English version, without spoiling any of the movie, include the dumbing down of dialogue, additional violent or gory scenes, and an unnecessary need to explain parts of the story that don’t require explanation. The language is much worse in Quarantine, additional cast was added and subsequently more people were killed, and the cause of the Quarantine was explained away instead of just leaving it a mystery. In my opinion, by offering an explanation for what was going on, some of the magic of [REC] was destroyed. However, seeing extra scenes of people getting killed in horrific ways almost completely made up for it.

All in all, it was the best horror movie remake I’ve ever seen, and it’s probably due in part to how good the original was to begin with and that it kept very close to the original. While I still think [REC] was the better movie, Quarantine did not disappoint me at all. I would recommend that anyone who hasn’t seen [REC] or Quarantine should see [REC] first and then watch Quarantine, but if you’ve already seen one, see the other! If you like horror movies, you won’t be disappointed.