Underworld: Evolution

Underworld: Evolution

Directed by	Len Wiseman
Produced by	Len Wiseman Danny McBride Kevin Grevioux Gary Lucchesi
Written by	Characters: Len Wiseman Danny McBride Kevin Grevioux Story: Len Wiseman Danny McBride Screenplay: Danny McBride
Narrated by	Kate Beckinsale
Starring	Kate Beckinsale Scott Speedman Tony Curran Derek Jacobi Bill Nighy
Music by	Marco Beltrami
Studio	Lakeshore Entertainment
Distributed by	Screen Gems
Release date(s)	January 20, 2006
Running time	106 min.
Country	Canada United States
Language	English Hungarian
Budget	$50,000,000
Box office	$111,340,801

Underworld: Evolution (also known as Underworld 2) is the second installment (chronologically, the third) in the Underworld series, following Underworld in 2003. Evolution continues the feud between Vampires and Lycans, but highlights glimpses of their origins some centuries ago.

The film is an immediate follow-up to Underworld: the events of Evolution begin during the same night of the first film's finale, and ends only one night later. It has several more constructive plot elements than its predecessor.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Reception
4 Prequel and Sequel
5 Music
- 5.1 Soundtrack
- 5.2 Score
6 References
7 External links

Plot

In the year 1202 A.D., an army led by three vampire elders (Markus, Viktor, and Amelia) arrives at a Lycan ravaged village. After killing several werewolves, Viktor and Amelia capture their target: Markus's 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 (just after the events of the first film), Selene takes Michael to a safe house so that she can return to the mansion to confront Kraven. She knows Kraven intends to kill Markus and plans to stop him. However, Singe's blood has already awakened Markus, turning him into a Vampire-Dominant hybrid. Markus then wipes out Kraven and his men, and destroys the mansion. Lorenz Macaro, an elderly and imposing man, sends in a team of "Cleaners" to investigate the aftermath from the battle in the Lycans' lair. When Macaro examines Viktor's body he finds a metal disk attached to his ribcage which is the match to Sonja's pendant, which is in the possession of Selene and Michael

He learns Selene and Michael's location from camera surveillance of various safe houses and leaves to track them down. Markus attacks Selene and Michael, who evade him and hide in a warehouse. While inside, Selene and Michael share their feelings and have sex. Now knowing that the pendant is of some importance to Markus, Michael and Selene set out to solve its mystery. Selene recalls that she'd seen it as a child, but doesn't know its significance. To find answers, they travel to the hideout of the exiled vampire historian, Andreas Tanis. Selene and Michael confront Tanis, who reveals that Markus, not Viktor, was the first vampire; one of the three sons of Alexander Corvinus, the first immortal. Markus was bitten by a bat and became a vampire; his twin brother, William, was bitten by a wolf and became a werewolf. The third son remained human his entire life and gave rise to a line of descendants including Michael, who became the first Lycan-Vampire Hybrid. The first werewolves created by William were entirely animal and unable to take human form again. Due to William's destructiveness, Markus approached Viktor, a warlord dying of old age, and offered to turn him and his army into immortal vampires in exchange for tracking down and stopping William, and in destroying those he had infected.

Markus intended to capture his brother and tame him, but Viktor ordered that William be locked away forever, far away from Markus. Viktor did not kill the brothers because he believed that doing so would result in the immediate extinction of all other vampires and his Lycan slaves (a deception he had been fed by Markus). Tanis also reveals that Selene's father was the architect who built William's prison and that the pendant is a key. After Lucian's escape, Viktor killed Selene's family as they knew of the prison's location, but turned Selene into a vampire. Tanis then refers Selene and Michael to Lorenz Macaro for help. Shortly after they leave, Markus arrives and questions Tanis, who lies desperately and tries to evade telling Markus of his telling Selene the family secrets. Tired of hearing Tanis's lies, Markus learns the truth by drinking his blood, leaving Tanis dead.

Selene and Michael go to see Lorenz Macaro, who is actually Alexander Corvinus. Alexander reveals that he has devoted his life to containing the Vampire-Lycan War away from the mortal world, however, he refuses to help kill his sons. When Markus arrives, he impales Michael on a small pole and learns the location of William's hidden prison by drinking Selene's blood. He then attacks and mortally wounds his father, thereby obtaining the other half of the pendant, after deriding his father's refusal to help William and revealing he and William intend to rule the world as god-like masters of a race of hybrids. On Alexander's bidding, Selene drinks his blood, enhancing her physical strength and healing abilities to a level equivalent to that of a Hybrid such as Michael and Markus themselves. When Selene asked what she would become, Alexander simply stated "The Future". Afterwards, Alexander blows up his ship, killing himself.

Selene, aboard Corvinus' helicopter, leads the Cleaners to the prison to confront and destroy Markus, but he has already freed William. A battle ensues in which William bites the Cleaners and begins turning them into werewolves. Michael, presumed to be dead inside his body-bag aboard the helicopter, suddenly regenerates and joins the fight in his Hybrid form. He ultimately kills William by tearing his head apart. Selene is then stabbed in the abdomen by Markus, but it doesn't kill her and she pushes him into the spinning blades, killing him. After the battle, Selene suddenly realises that her hand is fully bathed in sunlight coming from the roof above, and she is not hurt by it in the slightest. It seems drinking Alexander's blood has transformed her more than she imagined. Selene narrates that she fears the days ahead, as the death of the Elders will cause nothing but chaos, but she is nevertheless hopeful.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

The film was not well-received by critics. It currently has a 16% overall approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[1] 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 new script, with attendees only being informed about the new hybrids by production designer Patrick Tatopoulos. The previewing 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 of the movie.^[2]

Jeannette Catsoulis of New York Times criticized the film's "steel-blue filter" and described it as "a monotonous barrage of computer-generated fur and fangs"^[3]. Peter Hartlaub of San Francisco Chronicle opened his review "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 the film is "an admirable attempt to test the boundaries of the genre" but that it is confusing and not fun to watch.^[4]

Box office

The film opened on 3,207 screens with a weekend box office (January 20–22, 2006) of $26.9 million or an average of $8,388 per theater.^[5] As of March 12, 2006, the film grossed a total of $62.3 million in the United States and $111.3 million worldwide.^[5]

Home media

It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on June 6, 2006.

Prequel and Sequel

The background history that lead to the current Vampire-Lycan War (depicted in the first and second films) continues in the third film of the series, the prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.

A fourth film, sequel to Evolution, is scheduled to be released in 2012, called Underworld: Awakening.^[6]

Music

Soundtrack

Underworld: Evolution – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Soundtrack album

Released

January 10, 2006

Genre

Alternative rock
Alternative metal
Post-hardcore
Industrial
Nu metal
Metalcore
Gothic metal

Label

Lakeshore

chronology

Underworld
(2003)

Underworld: Evolution
(2006)

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
(2009)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[7]

The soundtrack was released on January 10, 2006 by Lakeshore Records. Unlike its predecessor, none of the music included was written especially for the project (save for the Morning After track by Dead by Sunrise, which was remixed specifically for the soundtrack), although many of the tracks have so far been exclusive to the soundtrack. Original plans to include the Adema song "Shoot the Arrows" from their third album Planets, were scrapped when lead singer Luke Caraccioli left the band citing "personal differences".

Track listing

The Undertaker (Renholdër Mix) - Puscifer
Morning After (Julien-K Remix) - Chester Bennington
Where Do I Stab Myself in the Ears (The Legion of Doom Remix) - Hawthorne Heights
To the End (RnR Cheryl Mix) - My Chemical Romance
Vermillion, Pt. 2 (Bloodstone Mix) - Slipknot
Burn (Alleged Remix) - Alkaline Trio
The Last Sunrise (Dusk Mix) - Aiden
Bite to Break Skin (The Legion of Doom Remix) - Senses Fail
Her Portrait in Black - Atreyu
Washing Away Me in the Tides - Trivium
Eternal Battle - Mendozza
Our Truth - Lacuna Coil
Cat People (Putting Out Fire) - Gosling
Why Are You Up - Bobby Gold
Suicide - Meat Beat Manifesto
HW2 - Cradle of Filth (Cover of "Halloween II", originally recorded by Misfits)

Score

Underworld Evolution (Original Score)

Film score by Marco Beltrami