Underworld (2003 film)

For generations, a secret war has raged between vampires and Lycans, an ancient species of werewolf. The vampires gain the upper hand when Lycan leader Lucian seemingly dies at the hands of vampire Kraven, who becomes the second-in-command to the vampires' leading elders. Selene, a member of an elite group of vampire assassins known as "Death Dealers", longs for revenge against the Lycans, who murdered her parents when she was a child.

During a clash with the Lycans, Selene discovers that they are looking for Michael Corvin, a seemingly ordinary medical student. After she rescues Michael and takes him under her wing, the pair find themselves pursued by a group of Lycans led by Lucian, who is still alive after all. During their escape, Michael is bitten by Lucian. Since Kraven was the only witness to Lucian's supposed death, Selene comes to suspect that he lied about killing him, and may be working with the Lycans.

She returns to her coven's mansion and prematurely awakens Viktor, a hibernating elder vampire. Furious, Viktor refuses to believe Selene's warnings about Kraven's treachery, and reminds her that his fellow elder Marcus was supposed to be awakened before him.

While awaiting Kraven's judgment for defying him, Selene binds Michael, fearing that the Lycans' bite will transform him into a werewolf when the full moon rises. As the two of them bond, she gradually tells him more about her past, revealing that Viktor adopted her and turned her into a vampire after her parents' death. Selene later manages to capture and abduct the Lycan scientist Singe, while the Lycans manage to abduct and capture Michael.

While held captive in the Lycans' lair, Michael soon learns that Lucian was once in love with Viktor's daughter Sonja, and that Viktor murdered her after he discovered their forbidden love affair. Lucian claims that Lycans were once slaves of vampires, and the war began when they rose up against them and fought for their freedom. Meanwhile, at the vampires' mansion, a captive Singe reveals that Selene was telling the truth about Kraven's betrayal, and he reveals why the Lycans want Michael: vampires and Lycans actually have a common ancestor, and Michael is a direct descendant of that ancestor. As an heir to the legendary "Corvinus" bloodline, he carries a unique genetic strain that could allow him to become a vampire-werewolf hybrid.

The vampire elder Amelia—the ruler of the coven—is later ambushed and killed by Lycans while traveling to the mansion to awaken Marcus. In the ensuing showdown between vampires and Lycans, Selene breaks into the Lycans' lair to rescue Michael, Kraven and Lucian turn on each other, Kraven tells Selene that Viktor was the one who really murdered her parents, and Michael allows Selene to bite him - believing that her bite will make him an immortal vampire-werewolf hybrid - while Kraven shoots Lucian, killing him.

When Viktor arrives at the Lycans' lair in the aftermath of the battle, he admits to murdering Selene's parents and killing his daughter. He also insists that he killed Sonja for the good of his people and reveals she was pregnant with Lucian's child, an abomination in the eyes of the two species. Lastly, he claims that he made Selene immortal out of love for her. Viktor and Michael fight, but with Michael overpowered and nearly strangled, Selene turns on Viktor and kills him. Now enemies of both the vampires and the Lycans, Selene and Michael flee the Lycans' lair together.

Back at the vampires' mansion, Marcus—now the sole surviving vampire elder—awakens after Singe's blood seeps into his sarcophagus.

The film was the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by White Wolf, Inc. and Nancy A. Collins, claiming the setting was too similar to the Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse games, both set in the World of Darkness setting, and to the Sonja Blue vampire novels. White Wolf filed 17 counts of copyright infringement, and claimed over 80 points of unique similarity between White Wolf's gaming systems and the film. One of those points being that the vampires in Underworld "drink blood". White Wolf, Inc. also said the script was very similar to a story entitled The Love of Monsters (1994), which they published, written by Nancy A. Collins.[5][6] In September 2003, a judge granted White Wolf an expedited hearing. The lawsuit ended in a confidential settlement.[7]

The film grossed $51,970,690 in the US and $95,708,457 worldwide.[4] Underworld was released on DVD and VHS from Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.

Underworld has a 31% overall approval rating on film-critics' aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 161 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "Though stylish to look at, Underworld is tedious and derivative." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[8]

Roger Ebert said, "This is a movie so paltry in its characters and shallow in its story that the war seems to exist primarily to provide graphic visuals".[9] However, some critics were more favorable: the New York Daily News praised it as being "stylish and cruel, and mightily entertaining for certain covens out there".[10]

Salon reviewer Andrew O'Hehir gave a mixed review, stating, "by any reasonable standard, this dark vampire epic — all massive overacting, cologne-commercial design and sexy cat suits — sucks," but that "at least it gives a crap", conceding that despite the movie's flaws, the complex vampire-werewolf mythology backstory "has been meticulously worked out".[11]

A sequel, titled Underworld: Evolution, in which Marcus fully awakens, was released January 20, 2006. The prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which gives more detail about the creation of the Lycan species and Lucian's hatred, was released January 23, 2009. A second sequel, Underworld: Awakening, was released on January 20, 2012, and a third sequel, Underworld: Blood Wars, was released on January 6, 2017.[14]

• Vampire film

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• Official website
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• Underworld title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Underworld at AllMovie
• Underworld at Rotten Tomatoes