Included in what I can enjoy are B movies, most often defined as shorter than regular films, shot with more limited budgets, often camp influenced, often part of a series featuring main characters which return for many adventures, often genre films of some kind. A good B movie can be a great treat. It may not meet the standards we hold for the headlining features but that doesn't mean it can't be enjoyed.
One such series of B movies is the Underworld series, the chronicles of vampire Kate Beckinsale in tight black leather caught in a war between vampires and lycans (werewolves). I have enjoyed the mythology created for this series, the politics and characters with their intricate backstories, the stylized method of filming, and the unabashed embrace of its story, gore, and lead character who gets to be not just a female version of a male lead but a truly independent female character at the heart of this epic.
And so a new chapter. How does it stack up? I appreciate that this series has found a way to take the story in new directions each film while retaining the things we have come to love about it. Blood Wars adds to the mythology by creating a new political status quo for its world and makes it feel like we are moving the story forward. By abandoning the series' initial concept (the Romeo and Juliet story set in the monster world) the series has not only freed Seline to be a hero on her own, but also allows the political analogy to flourish. The power struggle narrative between factions on both sides of a never ending battle speaks volumes. Also, Blood Wars allows for plenty of the campy rhetoric which the series thrives on.
I admit Underworld isn't for everyone. Yes, the film revels a bit too much in some of it's CW style dialogue. Bekinsale utters some ridiculous narration that induces a bit of cringing. The special effects remain B grade meaning you need to dispel your disbelief a bit more than you might want to. But my defense of this is how the film embraces this reality. It doen't try to be A grade while remaining essentially superficial (like the Transformers or Fast and Furious series for example). It leaps right into the B movie world and lives it proudly. I can get behind that while recognizing the flaws. I'm not saying it's great. It's all a bit trashy but it entertains me and doesn't attempt to insult me so I'm all for it.
And one of the great things about these sorts of films are the casts. Often you get great scenery chewing out of slumming A list actors in these things. Everyone from Bill Nighy to Derek Jacoby to Michael Sheen and now Charles Dance and Lara Pulver have graced these films giving delicious performances that are so much fun to watch. I would recommend the casting for Underworld 6 (a facetious title for a film I know is coming but remains unnamed - I do respect their choice to never number their sequels - I hate sequels with numbers in the title generally) cast a more diverse world of vampires and werewolves.
So all in all a satisfying chapter if you're a fan looking for more Underworld fun. Not for the faint of heart or those looking down their noses at it.
Underworld Blood Wars
Starring: Kate Bekinsale, Theo James, Charles Dance, Lara Pulver
Director: Anna Foerster
Writer: Cory Goodman
No comments:
Post a Comment