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Dom Robinson reviews
Entertainment in Video
- Cert:
- Cat.no: EDV 9379
- Running time: 102 minutes
- Year: 2006
- Pressing: 2006
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 12 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English
- Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Super 35)
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras: Featurettes: Bloodlines: From Script to Screen, The Hybrid Teory, Making Monsters Roar, The War Rages On,Building A Saga, Music and Mayhem, Music Video, Audio Commentary
Underworld: Evolution: 
Underworld Sp.Edn:
Director:
- Len Wiseman
(Live Free or Die Hard, Underworld, Underworld: Evolution)
Producers:
- David Coatsworth, Gary Lucchesi, Tom Rosenberg and Richard Wright
Screenplay:
- Danny McBride
(from a story by Len Wiseman and Danny McBride)
Music:
- Marco Beltrami
Cast:
- Selene: Kate Beckinsale
Michael Corvin: Scott Speedman
Marcus Corvinus: Tony Curran
Kraven: Shane Brolly
Alexander Corvinus: Derek Jacobi
Viktor: Bill Nighy
Andreas Tanis: Steven Mackintosh
Amelia: Zita Görög
William Corvinus: Brian Steele
Soren: Scott McElroy
Samuel: John Mann
Lucian: Michael Sheen
Erika: Sophia Myles
Pierce: Rich Cetrone
Underworld: Evolutionstarts off in 1202 AD where the two sons of Alexander Corvinus (Derek Jacobi),Marcus (Tony Curran) and William (Brian Steele) are having rather a to-do, assibling rivalry can often exhibit.
Marcus was bitten by a bat and became the blood leader fo the vampires, while William took it froma wolf and became the first and most powerful Lycan, so, yes, he just looks like a wolf during histime onscreen. This opening section also gives us a chance to see characters such as Lucian and Viktorwho were offed inthe first installment,which I didn’t exactly go a bundle on, but can the sequel rectify that? Yes, it can as pontificatingscenes are kept to a minimum so more time is spent on the action.
Self-proclaimed death-dealer Selene (Kate Beckinsale, once again looking resplendent in herrubber catsuit) killed Viktor (Bill Nighy) at the end of part one, and now only has Michael(Scott Speedman) left on her side. However, he turned out to be the human descendent of AlexanderCorvinus, neither vampire nor Lycan, but a hybrid, so she’s got a problem either way as we get back tothe present day where Michael is trying to get adjusted to his new-found status, but first Selene nowwants to awaken Marcus and get the truth out, before Kraven (Shane Brolly) turns up first tokill him.
There are lots of flashbacks to the first film to remind you of what happened, and also as Marcus, nowawoken, sets about to have his vengeance and track down Michael, the method of which will become clearas you watch the film. Derek Jacobi does a good turn as Alexander Corvinus, the father of all the vampires,and Steven Mackintosh hams it up nicely as Andreas Tanis, a man who’s been in exile for the past300 years for reasons I’ll also leave you to discover, but he’s essential for helping Selene and Michaelpiece everything together.
And one piece of the puzzle is a mysterious amulet which Marcus is after in his bid to free William whowas locked away 800 years ago. Cue a WWE-style match between Marcus and Michael, an inevitable soft-focussex scene, some nice slomo CGI effects and cool Ray Harryhausen-style model shots involving William thewerewolf and you have a far better overall result than the original movie, even if it is incredibly daftat times.
At the end it hints at another sequel, although IMDB suggests that a prequel is on the cards forrelease in 2009. Either way, I shall be looking forward to it.
Oh, and once again I’ve used pictures of Kate Beckinsale in her role as Selene (top-right) and asshe is in real life (above-right) just because she’s very hot.
The picture is superb with not a single glitch to be found on the 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen image.Sadly, there’s no DTS soundtrack this time, leaving just a Dolby Digital 5.1 option which could’ve beenavoided if they’d released it as a 2-disc set like the first film’s special edition. No doubt EIV will pull that trick again later on. While the sound effects are good in the opening scene, there’s anumber of other occasions, such as towards the end when it involves a helicopter, where it’s reallylacking which is a great shame.
The film was, again, shot in Super 35 so the 16:9 and 4:3 clips on many of the extras show extra screenheight top and bottom with little or no cropping for non-CGI scenes.
There are no chapters in the extras at all, most of which you can predict the content inside, and theytotal 77 minutes – not including the commentary, starting with:
- Bloodlines: From Script To Screen (13:23) which sets the tone for all six featurettes wherechat from the cast and crew, filmed in 4:3, is mixed in with 2.35:1 letterboxed film clips. Herewe’re told that all concerned felt there was more of a story to be told (and more money to be made, asa result) so cue the inevitable sequel. Of course, these additions should only be watched once you’veseen the movie itself so you don’t encounter spoilers.
- The Hybrid Theory (12:58), I was expecting would’ve gone into more detail about Michael’s predicament, instead just concentrates on the visual effects used in several scenes through the filmand how CGI wasn’t always relied upon exclusively to get the job done, to get a better overall effect.
- Making Monsters Roar (11:54) is subtitled ‘Creature Effects’ and you can guess which aspectof the movie this one is about.
- The War Rages On (9:52) is about the stunts and stunt coordinator Brad Martin confirmswhat we could see in that there’s more action in this sequel, when compared to the original.
- Building a Saga (12:54) features production design with a scale that’s 2-3 times larger thanthe first one and a budget to match that allows them to do things they didn’t get chance to do back then.
- Music and Mayhem (11:48) is, as you’d expect, about the music score and the sound designthroughout the movie.
- Music Video (3:52): This one’s for Her Portrait in Black by Atreyu and grunges alongloudly.
- Audio Commentary: The last extra on this DVD is a feature-length commentary courtesy ofdirector Len Wiseman, Editor Nick De Toth, production designer Patrick Tatopoulousand stunt coordinator Brad Martin.
The DVD menu has subtle animation to reflect the look of Marcus’ tomb with some great DD5.1 sound,but there’s a pitiful 12 chapters to the film – half the number the original had – and the subtitlesare in English only.
My only complaint about the presentation is that EIV have stuck a trailer at the start of the discfor Slither, prior to when the main menu appears. Just what do you think the ‘extras’ sectionis for, EIV? We’ve grown out of the procedures once exploited from the days of video rental.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.