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Some of these reviews make me think I am the only person here who can enjoy mindless action. Sheesh. I hated the first Underworld for many reasons: the action was poorly cut and dull, the plot dragged, and it pretty much seemed like a mediocre copy of every recent vampire movie combined with every recent action movie. For me, then, the killing off of a couple of extremely annoying characters at the start of 2 was a breath of fresh air. The flashback preceding that is undeniably cheesy at times, so I suppose if you liked Underworld for the great characterizations (?) and riveting storytelling style (??), Underworld 2 might get off on the wrong foot with you. It is also worth considering that if you care about proper helicopter physics in your movies, you may want to steer cleer of a film based on immortal monsters that can change shape, heal their wounds with blood, and magically fix their clothing after every scuffle. Personally, I paid to see a mediocre movie that I figured would be worth it for the gunfights, as it has been a while since a film has been released with a satisfying number of bullets fired. Aeon Flux just did not make the grade in that respect. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find that my ticket was actually for an extremely intense action film that also had shockingly good acting, story, and cinematography given the precedent of Underworld. What really struck me was how much Kate Beckinsale's acting had improved, how tolerable Michael was this time around, and how the director had apparently had some epiphany that caused him to cut the shakey-cam way down (it is still present, but used far more effectively) and actually pace the film properly. Could the directing be better? Of course. Could the actors be more convincing? Clearly, especially the main villain. Could the action be better? Hmmm... I suppose there is always room for improvement, but I would have a hard time thinking of any recent action movie that made me think, "gently caress yeah!" more often. The thing that really sealed the deal for me was the ending. It had been building up to something big for the whole movie, and amazingly it did not disappoint. I would hate to spoil it for anyone, but how anyone could watch that scene and not love every second of it is simply baffling to me. Compare that to the trainwreck that concluded Underworld and, well, I guess by now it is obvious which film I consider superior. If you are looking for a totally unpredictable and smart movie with oscar-worthy performances, you should slap yourself for even thinking about buying a ticket to Underworld: Evolution. I do not think the trailers, as well as the fact that it is a sequel to Underworld, could have made much more clear what kind of movie it was going to be. The surprising part for me was that it rose above a potential jumbled mess and ended up being a very fun, very exciting movie. I would compare it directly to something like Predator or possibly even Die Hard. Eh, one of the sequels at least. Dumb? Clearly. If that is a problem for you, you have missed the point. 4.5
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Jan 21, 2006 08:50
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 15:06 |
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