Rise of the Lycans (Underworld 3: Rise Of The Lycans (DVD))

Member Name: Whizz11

Product:	Underworld 3: Rise Of The Lycans (DVD)
Date:	08/07/09 (54 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Dark filming, good story, great costumes

Disadvantages: None

Underworld - Rise of the Lycans

This film, the third to be released in the Underworld story is actually a prequel to the other two movies so before Kate Beckinsale and the other two films, this tells the story of the origins of some characters and the events leading to the Vampire-Lycan war.

The film was released in January 2009. I am normally a chick flick kind of girl but I have to admit that I did actually like this movie. I firstly found the story quite easy to understand unlike some other horror/mosnter movies. Sometimes it's so hard to understand who is on what side and what they are fighting for but this story was clear as were the characters.

The film centres around Lucian who was the first werewolf able to take human form and to be called a Lycan. He is played by Michael Sheen. Sheen starred in the other Underworld films and has also played Tony Blair and Brian Clough in movies. He is not particularly cute in my opinion but in this movie he had obviously been working out because he had a very nice looking chest. He had his top off for a lot of the movie and definitely fit the part of mighty werewolf well. There was nothing Teen Wolf/Michael J Fox about him, that's for sure!! The baddie is played by Bill Nighy, the ruthless leader of the vampires called Viktor. He has know Lucian since he was born as he killed his werewolf mother and has kept him as a semi-prison since then.

Lucian tires of his life and longs for more. He emerges as a powerful leader who rallies the werewolves to rise up against Viktor. He has a certain power and they seem to trust him. He is helped by Sonja his secret lover in the battle for Lycan freedom. Unfortunately Sonja has one problem, her father is Viktor and so trouble brews when he finds out about them.

The filming was great in this movie, it really set the scene and the tone of the time. Of course, vampires do not like the light so most of the movie took place under the shadows of the moon with beautiful dark silouhettes and spooky wooded areas, except for the times when a vampire was killed by being exposed to the light. This made the film very dark and mysterious and I felt it added to the spectacle.

The costumes for this movie were great too. The werewolves were fantastic, actually really quite scary and they looked so real. They moved with such life likeness that you were scared when you heard them call to each other. There was definitely lots of blood and guts in this movie so it is not one for the fainthearted.

As of 26 April 2009, the film has grossed estimated $45,802,315 in North America and $89,971,676 at the box office worldwide.

The DVD runs for approximately 88 minutes and is rated 18 because it contains strong bloody violence. Bonus features include the directors commentary, the origin of the feud, re-creating the dark ages and a music video.

Summary: Underworld 3 - Rise of the Lycans