The Jason Salas Experience

I'm a big fan of the Underworld franchise and so the third film in the series, "Rise of the Lycans", was the first movie I've seen this year.  The film, a prequel, is incredible - the scenes are huge, the action intense the acting effective and the story well told.  Reprising their earlier roles from the original film are Michael Sheen as Lucian, contrasted by the ominous and malevolent Viktor, played by Bill Nighy.  

The movie profiles the backstory of Lucian going from slave to leader of an uprising of an army of werewolves against their vampiric oppressors.  He's actually seen as Viktor's surrogate son, albeit being his slave as a blacksmith.

The genius is that the characters were portrayed differently than in the original "Underworld", which really made the story-before-the-story approach work.  Lucian shows charisma and optimism about being in love with Viktor's daughter Sonja and desire for freedom, both for the first time, instead of acting as the disgruntled leader of an army of savages in a seemingly endless revolution, hopelessly searching for a descendant of Alexander Corvinus to fulfill prophecy.  

And Viktor, despite being a centuries-old leader of a vampire coven, is more compassionate, outspoken, openly emotional and less corrupt than he becomes in later chronology.  (I guess burning your daughter alive at the stake for getting knocked up by a member of a rival species will do that to a guy.)

The character of the Lycan enforcer-in-waiting Raze also returns, played by Kevin Grevioux.  His story is the movie's appreciated subplot, although I don't think he got enough lines, personally...which is funny considering Grevioux helped write the script.

The movie foreshadows several hints that give away its predictable ending, even though the one thing we can't escape is the outcome, given that we all know Sonja dies and the Lycans become independent.  The cast is also replete with one-liners that come off a little too punchliney, but it's still a very well-written script and helps to tell the unfinished legend the first alluded to.

Whereas the original Underworld had a sexy gothic/technological theme and the second promoted more of a rustic European ambiance, this film descends the audience on a trek into the Dark Ages.  The CGI fight scenes between the Lycans and the Death Dealers are epic, especially the final confrontation.  I've got scant criticism with the misuse of proper Old English in the dialogue, being a tad too colloquial, but I can look past that.  This is an action flick, not Henry V.

The end of Rise of the Lycans also features a flash-forward reference to the opening scene of the first film, with Kate Beckinsale as Seline questioning Viktor's authenticity.  This was obviously a stab at milking just one last drop out of the series' initial story, maybe stimulating DVD sales, but it's a move I could have done without.  The Lycans stood on their own merit.

But despite these few minor oversights, overall the movie is a tremendously great time.  Any fan of the series, despite some widespread disappointment about the second film, will love this.  Very entertaining.