I've Seen UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS

David Frost looks displeased with Nixon's latest answer.

This third installment of the Underworld series is a prequel. It tells the tale (tail?) of Lucien, the original lycanthrope. Lucien is sick and tired of being enslaved to vampires, so, out of spite, Lucien impregnates his master's daughter. Needless to say, Viktor is none too pleased with the unsanctioned breeding.

The best part of this movie was Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy's acting. Nighy's Viktor character seems to just exude power, while I've never heard a more convincing scream of helpless anguish in a Hollywood movie than I did from Michael Sheen. It's just too bad that the storyline and direction didn't help the movie as much as the aforementioned performances did.


A cold hearted bitch, or a premenstrual Naomi Campbell?

For my taste, Underworld's version of werewolves lack cool ferociousness. Having said that, I still recommend renting Rise of the Lycans if you own a bright, big screen LCD TV, because this film is darker than Robert Downey Jr. was in Tropic Thunder.