"Underworld: Rise of the Lycans!" Say it a few times and it does have a nice ring to it. The 'Underworld' films have been a decent little series that took elements from similar genre pictures like 'Blade', 'The Matrix", 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Terminator' and made a set of movies that felt like something new. There's nothing really new about this trilogy of a battle between Vampires and Werewolves, but there is a degree of a cool factor that can't be denied and its parts are better than its whole. It kick started the career of director Len Wiseman (who went on to make a pretty fun 'Die Hard' picture) and made an unlikely action heroine out of Kate Beckinsale.
For this third chapter, or prequel, Beckinsale has opted out, while Wiseman hands the director's chair over to underrated production designer Patrick Tatopoulos. Tatopoulos was responsible for the look of the previous films and is so adored by former collaborator Roland Emmerich that he named the Matthew Broderick character in his 'Godzilla' after him. There honestly isn't much for Tatopoulos to do because even though the stories originate with Wiseman, these films basically write themselves. Though there is credible conflict and drama, the films are nothing but Vampires and Werewolves fighting each other in stylized ways.
As the villain turned misunderstood freedom fighter in the original 'Underworld', Michael Sheen takes center stage, returning as the leader of the Werewolves, make that Lycans, Lucien. Sheen has risen to prominence in films with recent roles in 'The Queen' as Tony Blair and as David Frost in the currently playing 'Frost/Nixon". Though he's the lead in an action movie, "Rise of the Lycans" is very much his film, written for him by Wiseman. It's the least the guy can do right? Afterall Wiseman ended up marrying Sheen's longtime girlfriend and "baby momma" Beckinsale after the first film.
Set in Medieval times (where apparently the hot Vampire chicks wore leather belly shirts), we get to see how the Lycan slaves rose up against their Vampire masters. When Vampires and Werewolves were spawned by the sons of Corvinus, Marcus and William, the mindless beasts that howled at the moon were originally unable to change back into human form. That changed when one of them spawned a human baby that became Lucien. As the first of his kind, a Lycan, who had the ability to change from human to wolf at will, Viktor (Bill Nighy) the ruthless leader of the Vampire coven decided to spare his life rather than kill him. He would use this boy to transform human slaves into Lycans, made to protect their Vampire masters while they slept during daylight hours.
As Lucien grew into a man he also secretly grew to love Viktor's only daughter Sonja (Rhona Mitra), the most beautiful woman of all Vampires and a cunning warrior. Though it was believed that she despised Lucien and saw him as nothing but an inferior slave, this was all a ruse to keep their love affair a secret. Lucien holds no ill will towards his masters and even has no qualms with killing the mindless werewolves that frequently attack their castle. He only yearns to eventually escape with his freedom and hopefully take Sonja with him.
Events are set into motion when Lucien disobeys Viktor's edict and removes his slave collar so he may change into a werewolf to defend Sonja from an attack by the beasts. Though he should be grateful, Viktor repays Lucien by having him punished with thirty lashes and plans his execution. To save her love from being made an example of by Viktor's cruelty, Sonja plays a part in Lucien's escape and with him go several Lycan slaves looking for their own freedom. Now declared an immortal enemy by Viktor, Lucien realizes that the only way his kind can be free is to rise up against their masters and mount an army.
'Rise of the Lycans' is meant to be a historical look back at the saga that is "Underworld" and capable actors like Sheen, Mitra, Nighy and Steven Mackintosh (returning as the schemer Tannis) bring some dramatic weight to material that's nothing more than supernatural/sci-fi. But most of the film feels like a rehash of material we already know. Not only was much of this material referenced in the first film, but the most dramatic turn of the story was actually shown with Mitra's character played by another actress. In simple terms, the story is basically Lucien wanting his freedom with the girl he loves, but her daddy who won't have his rule questioned does everything in his power to punish or kill them both.
There is a great percentage of the film where Nighy and Sheen, two classically trained actors, are eloquently speaking Wiseman's dialogue towards each other (followed by snarling and growling), while Sheen gives a rallying cry to his fellow Lycans once too often. One element that works is the relationship between Lucien and Sonja. Both Sheen and Mitra do seem like they would truly die for the other and there is a great degree of heat between them. Unfortunately, much of that dramatic power gets lost in the action, with sequences and fights that do indeed look cool, but just seem a little too familiar. Also familiar is the film's look that both Tatapoulos and Wiseman are responsible for including that blue nighttime tint that was pioneered by John Carpenter decades earlier.
There's entertainment to be found in the picture and it does have its moments, because you don't come to see these movies for a dramatic story. You come to see them for the action and there's plenty of it within its less than 90 minute running time. "Underworld' was a success because Wiseman and co-writers Danny McBride & Kevin Grevioux (who also returns as Lucien's right hand Raze) managed to come up with a decent story that had an even more fascinating back-story. Now that they've given us all the details, that back-story doesn't seem so interesting anymore. Except for a few cool moments of bloodshed and the dramatic turn of events around Lucien and Sonja's relationship, all of this feels like something you've seen already.