Stylish entertainment.

''I am a Death Dealer, sworn to destroy those known as the Lycans. Our war has waged for centuries, unseen by human eyes. But all that is about to change.''

Selene (Beckinsale), a beautiful vampire warrior, is entrenched in a war between the vampire and werewolf races. Although she is aligned with the vampires, she falls in love with Michael (Speedman), a werewolf who longs for the war to end.

Kate Beckinsale: Selene

Underworld pits two races from mythology, vampire and lycan, and has them together in an on-going war. While the two are stereotypes of the horror genre, this doesn't play out like a traditional horror story. This action packed story will please horror fans and convert new ones due to the melding of movie types to create a fresh interpretation to a century old genre.

A male nurse,(Scott Speedman) unwittingly becomes involved in an on going battle between the two immortal species. When a female vamp Selene(Kate Beckinsale) notices the werewolves following this individual, she becomes suspicious and begins to investigate why he is so important, even if it changes everything she has ever known about her life and vampire history.
This monster movie follows the age-old traditions established in the early novels (Bram Stoker) and movies (Werewolf Of London) featuring vampires and misanthropes. Of late, there's been some modernized horror franchises that have thrown the standards out the window. Those standards are comforting and we, the audience, expect to see them. Vampires deteriorate in sunlight leading to instant death, Werewolves can only be killed by a silver projectile. Underworld takes these formulas, builds on there strengths and makes them their original own.
While it reads as a horror, it plays more like a gangster/fantasy piece. Both races participate in gun-play with specially modified bullets to instantly kill their opponents. The werewolves are animalistic warriors, wanna-be heavy weight mafia, with more brawn than brains. On the flip side, the vampires are like a communal family with hierarchy, ancient customs and they're legitimate business owners which funds their criminal endeavors.
Due to the aforementioned gun-play, this is more violent than gory. It's still bloody but there are no scenes that'll make you queasy or nauseous. The violence is another reason why it has an action vibe to it.
There's a class system subtext that runs through this movie. The lower class werewolves battling the upper class vampires. Working class is possibly a better adjective for the werewolves. They are masculine, unkempt and unsophisticated. On the other hand, the gothic vampires are immaculately dressed with a expensive sense of style. They lounge around looking glamourous as if they're supermodels at a cocktail party. Opulence and high class is the style the production and costume designer has given these blood suckers.

''Whether you like it or not, you're in the middle of a war that has been raging for the better part of a thousand years. A blood feud between vampires and lycans. Werewolves.''

Beckinsale's quite fetching in her erotic, PVC, full body costume. Her bondage like outfit's more interesting than her intentionally emotionless performance. One wonders why she didn't keep her British accent as the cast is made up of international actors with a pot-pourri of different brogues? It's good to see her in a lead role, above the title credit, where she holds her own portraying a strong, forceful character. Of late, she's played the glorified girlfriend part (eg. Michael Bay's "Pearl Harbor"). Here, she's independent, without a partner to justify her significance. While this is the kind of role a man would normally play, she's still feminine and sexy without having to show any flesh.
Bill Nighy has a supporting role as an elder vampire who's resurrected before his time in order to help Beckinsale. Nighy's rightfully become popular in the last few years. He's class in any part he plays, even a centuries-old vampire with superhuman strength. His climatic fight scene never draws unintentional laughs which shows what a convincing actor he is.

The colour film stock has been manipulated intentionally to give a blue hue to it. This reinforces the Gothic style of the flick. Blue isn't just a colour, it's also an emotion, reminiscent of a Mann blue scene. It's constantly raining which adds to the cold feel, the cinematographer and production designer have created. These races are unemotional beings which also strengthens the blue tone.
Computer generated visual effects were used for the movie which is far removed from John Landis' "An American Werewolf In London". While the special effects are impressive, there is no mystery into how they were achieved. Special effects and make up were a real art form before the days of CGI. These technicians are a dying breed due to computer infuences. It's a shame that moviemakers rely heavily on CGI as it's slowly becoming standard fare.

Overall, Underworld is a good action/horror/gangster movie with a strong female lead. This hybrid is filled with polished set pieces and seamless CGI. There's talk that this is the first of a proposed trilogy and I hope the next two will be as strong as this.

''Though I cannot predict the future, the consequences of this night will reverberate through the halls of both great covens for many years to come. Two vampire elders have been slain, one by my own hand. Soon, Marcus will take the throne, and a tide of anger and retribution will spill out into the night. Differences will be set aside. Allegiances will be made. And soon, I will become the hunted.''

8/10