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Underworld: Evolution

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Wikipedia article




'Underworld: Evolution' is a 2006 American action horror film directed by Len Wiseman. The film is a sequel to the 2003 film, 'Underworld', and the second installment in the 'Underworld' franchise. The plot follows Selene and Michael, again played by Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman, respectively, as they fight to protect the Corvinus bloodline from its hidden past.

Plot



In 1202, an army led by the three vampire elders (Markus, Viktor, and Amelia) arrives at a village full of Werewolves and capture their target: Markus's twin brother, William Corvinus, the first and most powerful werewolf. Despite Markus's defiance, Viktor orders that William be imprisoned in a secret location forever.

In the present day, Markus awakens and kills regent Kraven. Alexander Corvinus, A.K.A 'Lorenz Macaro', the forefather to both the vampire and Lycan races, sends in a team of "cleaners" to investigate the aftermath from the battle in the Lycans' lair. Macaro examines Viktor's corpse and finds a metal disc inside; it is the match to a pendant originally worn by Sonja. Micheal obtained the other half of the pendant after the death of Lucian.

Meanwhile, vampiress Selene takes Michael to a safe house. Using the knowledge obtained from Kraven's blood, Markus tracks the pair down and attacks them, but they escape and hide in a warehouse. That night, Selene recalls seeing the pendant as a child, but does not know its significance. Wanting to know why Markus wants it, the two travel to the hideout of the exiled vampire historian Andreas Tanis.

Tanis reveals that Markus was the first vampire, one of the three sons of Macaro, the first immortal. Markus was bitten by a bat and metamorphosed into a vampire, while William was bitten by a wolf and became a werewolf. The third son remained human and gave rise to a line of mortal descendants including Michael, who turned into the first Lycan-Vampire hybrid. The first werewolves created by William were entirely animal and unable to return to their human forms. Due to William's destructiveness, Markus approached Viktor, then a dying mortal warlord, and offered to turn him and his army into vampires in exchange for tracking down and stopping William, and in destroying those he had infected. Tanis further reveals that Selene's father was the architect who built William's prison and that the pendant is the key. Viktor killed Selene's family because they knew the prison's location, but made Selene into a vampiress with the location of the prison encoded in her blood. After Selene and Michael leave, Markus arrives and drinks Tanis' blood to learn Selene and Michael's location, killing Tanis.

Selene and Michael visit Macaro, who refuses to assist Selene in killing his sons. Markus arrives, fights Michael and impales him. He learns the location of William's prison by drinking Selene's blood, mortally wounds his father and obtains the other half of the pendant. He intends, with William, to rule the world as the god-like master of a race of vampire-Lycan hybrids. On Macaro's bidding, Selene drinks his blood, enhancing her physical strength and healing abilities to a level equivalent to that of a hybrid. Afterwards, Macaro blows up his ship, killing himself.

Selene, aboard Macaro's helicopter, leads his cleaners to the prison to kill Markus, who has already freed William. In the ensuing battle, William bites the cleaners, turning them into werewolves. Michael, presumed dead, awakens and joins the fight, killing William by ripping his head off. Selene battles Markus and kills him by pushing him into the rotor blades of the cleaners' crashed helicopter.

After the battle, Selene realizes that Alexander's blood granted her hybrid abilities, including being immune to the effects of sunlight, which is lethal to vampires.

Cast



* Kate Beckinsale as Selene

** Lily Mo Sheen as young Selene

* Scott Speedman as Michael Corvin

* Tony Curran as Markus Corvinus

* Derek Jacobi as Alexander Corvinus/Lorenz Macaro

* Steven Mackintosh as Andreas Tanis

* Shane Brolly as Kraven

* Bill Nighy as Viktor

* Zita Grg as Amelia

* Brian Steele as William Corvinus

* Andrew Kavadas as Selene's Father

* Kayla Levins as Selene's Sister

* John Mann as Samuel

Reception



Box office

The film opened at #1 on 3,207 screens with a weekend box office (January 2022, 2006) of $26.9 million, for an average of $8,388 per theater.[http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=underworld2.htm Underworld: Evolution (2006)]. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-11-13. As of March 12, 2006, the film had grossed a total of $62.3 million in the United States and $111.3 million worldwide.

Critical response

As of August 31, 2021, 'Underworld: Evolution' has a 17% overall approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 104 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "A visual and aural assault on the senses, this vampire-werewolf sequel makes a lot of noise and features a heavy-handed, overly convoluted story."[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/underworld_evolution Underworld: Evolution Movie Reviews, Pictures]. 'Rotten Tomatoes'. Retrieved 2021-8-31. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. A few scenes of the film were shown in a panel at Comic-Con in San Diego, in July 2005; however, these scenes did not contain any plot spoilers of the script, with attendees only being informed about the new hybrids by production designer Patrick Tatopoulos. The preview was well-received as hundreds of fans waited hours to see a clip of the film, as well as Kate Beckinsale and the other stars.(July 18, 2005). [http://movies.ign.com/articles/634/634461p1.html Comic-Con 2005: Underworld: Evolution Panel]. 'IGN'. Retrieved 2010-11-13.

Jeannette Catsoulis of 'The New York Times' criticized the film's "steel-blue filter" and described it as "a monotonous barrage of computer-generated fur and fangs." Peter Hartlaub of the 'San Francisco Chronicle' began his review by saying, "you can tell that 'Underworld: Evolution' is trying to be an artistic action-horror film, because every scene is bathed in the color blue," going on to say that the film is "an admirable attempt to test the boundaries of the genre," though is confusing and not fun to watch.

Music



Soundtrack



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Track listing



Score



Home media



The film was released on DVD on June 6, 2006, and later on Blu-ray.https://highdefdiscnews.com/2018/05/19/underworld-evolution-blu-ray-review/&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwiWrdLI7ZnwAhXjaRUIHZtQDYIQFjABegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw2Q4MU67gSlP8JYXx5ZuLxJ

Prequel and sequel



The next film in the series, the prequel 'Underworld: Rise of the Lycans', depicted the background history that led to the Vampire-Lycan War of the first and second films. A fourth and fifth film, the sequels to 'Underworld: Evolution', titled 'Underworld: Awakening' and 'Underworld: Blood Wars', were released on January 20, 2012 and January 6, 2017, respectively.

See also



*Vampire film

References




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