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Two movies into the "Underworld" series, the creative team made a surprisingdecision to make a prequel instead of move ahead with the story that had just earned them a healthy sum at the box office. But was it really a strange choice? In retrospect, no. Despite its exciting action and amped up visuals, "Evolution" had effectively weakened the foundations of the first movie that had endeared the public to the franchise. So it was logical, even wise, choice to attempt to repair that damage.
And so they did with "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans", which gave the viewer a chance to see the very roots of what had started the hateful blood feud between Lycans and vampires. Where "Evolution" had complicated the mythos with extraneous characters, pre-Lycan werewolves, and a cheapening of Viktor's menace, "Rise" sought to remind us why we were invested in this story to begin with.
At its core, the movie is yet another take on the forbidden love formula of "Romeo and Juliet" which, let's face it, is hard to screw up or dislike. A smattering of subtext about race and justifiable insurrection make this tried and true approach all the stronger and, just like that, we have an immediately likable hero in Lucian (an engaging Michael Sheen) to go against the villainous vampire that owned every scene he was in in the first movie, Viktor (Bill Nighy). Rhona Mitra is uniquely beautiful and poised as Lucian's paramour. These three give a movie about monsters fighting each other much more credibility than you'd think.
Patrick Tatopoulos, who formerly was in charge of creature design, takes on the directorial reins and brings the presentation down from gothic comic book fare to fantasy horror drama while never losing that visual aesthetic cohesiveness that makes the film feel undoubtedly like part of the series. His keen eye serves the material exceptionally well and the action, though still fantastic, seems far more realistic than previously in the series. Better yet, it stands out as the most rousing and visually arresting. Most importantly, he makes sure the film has its own strong identity and never lets the audience miss Beckinsale's Selene.
Again, the effects work is a mixture of the practical and CGI with the latter being used only when absolutely necessary and downright logical (i.e. hordes of hundreds of wolves). The dark monotone hues help the two mediums work together very well despite a few minor hiccups here and there. The sets and costuming are spectacular and really work to give the world a lived in look so pivotal to making fantasy or period pieces work.
You wouldn't think they could wring much out of a backstory they touched upon quite a bit in the previous two installments but the writers managed to do not only that but give it a surprising amount of substance and heart. More importantly, they retroactively give meaning to some of the weaker points of "Evolution" and allow you to forgive some of the stupider ones (the key mechanism in Viktor's chest) by actually given heft to the Lycan's plight and Viktor's hatred of them.
"Rise of the Lycans" can not exist without its ties to the first "Underworld" film but it certainly does much to stand apart on its own. In all honesty, this is probably the best film in the series and while that is not a hard bar to reach it is rare that a sequel outdoes the film that birthed it.
