UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS Film Review - 4/2/09

I had grave misgivings about a prequel to Underworld but this wasn't too bad! Remember we are in the 11th. or 12th. Century so no automatic weapons or hi-tech gadgets just whopping great swords, knives, axes and the particular throwing stars that the death-dealers use. Taking the Gothic setting from the previous films we end up with an embittered Viktor (Bill Nighy) infighting with his vampire brethren and having problems with the emergent lycan race. Throw in a number of characters from the last couple of films and you have the re-run of the love story between Sonja and Lucian fleshed out in full. If you like blood spurting and limbs being hacked off this one is for you - But after a while it all gets pretty monotonous and dull. Quite why they wanted to reveal this love story I can't understand, as the flashbacks in the previous films more or less cover it. I think a better idea could have been thought up for a prequel than this? Mildly entertaining - But in a throwaway fashion. If it's enough of a success we may get a return to form in Underworld 4?