Underworld

Larry wanted to see Rise of the Lychans (2009), after seeing an ad for it, though we haven't seen the first two in the series. It was o.k.; well-made for the genre but not really my cup of tea. The best part was Michael Sheen as a werewolf after watching him portray David Frost and Tony Blair.

After that, we decided to see the other two (Matt and Danny both liked them, which should be a clue right there). Underworld (2003) is again well-made, but for a movie promoted as "Romeo and Juliet with vampires," there's precious little romance, and plenty of death and destruction. The movie is confusing at first, but then it tries to catch you up on all the plot in the space of 20 minutes, which results in poor pacing. But by far my biggest complaint is a dearth of kissing. The young stars are appealing, but they don't interact enough. In Shakespeare's play, the lovers take up at least half the action, here they have a few scant scenes together, mostly spent killing their opponents. I can see why this is a hit primarily with boys and young men (it was not a box office smash) - if they had balanced the action with more romance, they could have found a wider audience.

I suppose we'll see the final movie at some point. I understand the romance heats up, so that's a selling point. As for 2 solid hours of slaughter, that's never going to motivate me.