Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans (6/10)

Finally, Michael Sheen got his time to shine in this bleak darkness of a franchise. The first two movies were so bad that Sheen was lost amidst the remnants of the  underworld.

And whether it’s newly inspired script with new writers, or the director and writer for the previous two movies Len Wiseman getting the boot; this third instalment is by far the most entertaining.

But without Wiseman’s stylishly over-the-top execution, however misguided as it was, as well as Kate Beckinsale’s star power, the entire outlook of the movie initially was very much in limbo; especially with what happened to a Rachel Weisz-less “The Mummy 3”.

Director Patrick Tatopoulos, who did the special effects for the previous two, came in with more modest ideas in terms of direction without all the stylised effects that Wiseman had so freely flaunted.

And this actually worked to his advantage because all that futuristic movements a la “The Matrix” would have been very out of place in the middle century. Also, due to a limited budget set by the producers, there were less special effects going on.

However, the downside with said limited budget was that when there was any special effects (the werewolf transformation for example), it looked really old-school and cheesy. And the fight scenes were unimpressive and even confusing without proper choreography. The final fight scene was most disappointing to say the least.

Those who were unfamiliar with Sheen during his first two forays into big-budget Hollywood-vehicle may not know he is actually a very good actor. All that should change as we finally see Sheen (if not in The Queen or Frost/Nixon) in the leading role, giving life to Lucian with brooding and compassionate complexity that is both feral and human.

Rhona Mitra replaced latex-laden Beckinsale as the strong female Vampire. Virtually an unknown, she generated much less expectation than Beckinsale and brought with her a fresh face and a fresh performance.

Though this instalment wasn’t the smartest or the most exciting fantasy flick, it does give this franchise some hope and is certainly the best of the series in all and every aspect.