Review of Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

You are credit to your race. Do you know how to remain so? Keep your eyes on the ground.

For God's sakes, when you're watching this film, don't keep your eyes off the screen! The third installment of the "Underworld" series started off with little promise; it must have been the knowledge that Kate Beckinsale wouldn't have made a major appearance in this film. Ever since The Mummy 3 didn't deliver as promised (I contribute it's semi-failure to the absence of Rachel Weisz), I became wary of how the trilogy would work out. Lo and behold, Rise of the Lycans was a fun follow-up to Underworld and Underworld Evolution.
Centuries before Selene (cameo by Beckinsale) was born, the powerful vampire coven, led by Viktor (Nighy), survived by exerting fear over the humans and fighting an endless battle with the products of William's (who is known as the werewolf brother of Markus) ravaging: the pure werewolves. When one of the werewolves gave birth to a human child, his instincts told him to destroy the child. Instead, he spared the baby's life and, when the child was all grown up, made him work for him as a slave. That child was Lucian (Sheen). Viktor took advantage of Lucian's ability to change into a werewolf and back to a human at will, and he created an army of deadly werewolf-human hybrids. These served as the vampire's protectors during the daytime, and at night, they did all the heavy labour. Viktor became too concerned with the state of affairs, that he failed to see a forbidden affair blossom between Lucian and his only daughter, Sonja (Mitra). The movie basically explores the origins of the Lycans and how the war between the vampires and werewolves started. This is no teeny-bopper film; the Gothic tones and entirely dark scenes (what I mean by that is that most of the scenes occurred during the night, save for when Lucian and a handful of his fellow Lycans escaped Viktor's keep) capture the dark mood and the feeling of how it is to be a creature of the night. No sparkles, no cheesy one-liners, this is how a vampire/werewolf showdown should be like.