Underworld: Evolution Review

Underworld: Evolution
Vampiric vixen Selene and werewolf-vamp hybrid Michael, both on the run, set out to stop the progenitors of both races from wiping out mankind.

by James Dyer |
Published on
Release Date:

20 Jan 2006

Running Time:

107 minutes

Certificate:

15

Original Title:

Underworld: Evolution

After the critical pounding suffered by Underworld, cynical viewers might suggest that writer/director Len Wiseman's marriage to his leading lady is the only reason we're now faced with a second yarn. Sewn onto the back of its predecessor by an unforgivably clumsy recap, this follow-up is a direct continuation that simply picks up where the first film’s story left off, with the death of Bill Nighy's camp count.

But for all her slinky, undead-chic looks, Beckinsale can't carry the film on curves alone and there's not much else here worthy of attention. Evolution's action sequences are as horribly bungled as its plot, resulting in a string of repetitive confrontations that feel toothless even by the last movie’s standards.

Nuptial credentials notwithstanding, Wiseman's dream of an Underworld trilogy dies here – the open-ended coda evidence of badly misplaced optimism.
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