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Underworld: Evolution

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Underworld Evolution
Directed byLen Wiseman
Written byCharacters:
Len Wiseman
Danny McBride
Kevin Grevioux
Story:
Len Wiseman
Danny McBride
Screenplay:
Danny McBride
Produced byLen Wiseman
Danny McBride
Kevin Grevioux
Gary Lucchesi
StarringKate Beckinsale
Scott Speedman
Tony Curran
with Derek Jacobi
and Bill Nighy
Music byMarco Beltrami
Production
company
Distributed byScreen Gems
Release date
January 20, 2006
Running time
106 min.
CountriesCanada
United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50,000,000
Box office$111,340,801

Underworld: Evolution is the second film 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.

Underworld Evolution is an immediate follow-up to Underworld. Therefore, 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.

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 hybrid. Markus then wipes out Kraven and his men, and destroys the mansion. 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 make love.

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. 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, killing him. 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 son. When Markus arrives, he apparently kills Michael 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 strength and healing abilities to a level equivalent to that of a Hybrid. 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 bodybag aboard the helicopter, suddenly regenerates and joins the fight in his Hybrid form. Michael ultimately kills William by tearing his head apart, while Selene kills Markus by pushing him into the spinning blades of the crashed helicopter. 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

File:UnderworldEvolutionSS.png
Selene (Kate Beckinsale) and Michael (Scott Speedman) while fleeing from Markus.

Production

Filming took place in Vancouver, Canada, and is somewhat of a departure from the settings of Underworld, which was filmed almost exclusively in Budapest, Hungary.[citation needed] Evolution also had a much larger budget than the first film. It was originally set to be released in late 2005, however it was delayed until January 20, 2006 in the United States.

Response

The film was not well received by critics; it currently has a 15% 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]

The film opened on 3,207 screens[3] with a weekend box office (January 20 - 22 2006) of $26.9 million or an average of $8,388 per theater.[4]

As of March 12, 2006, the film grossed a total of $62.3 million in the United States box office and $111.3 million worldwide.[4]

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

Soundtrack

Untitled

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
  1. The Undertaker (Renholdër Mix) - Puscifer
  2. Morning After (Julien-K Remix) - Dead by Sunrise
  3. Where Do I Stab Myself in the Ears (The Legion of Doom Remix) - Hawthorne Heights
  4. To the End (RnR Cheryl Mix) - My Chemical Romance
  5. Vermillion, Pt. 2 (Bloodstone Mix) - Slipknot
  6. Burn (Alleged Remix) - Alkaline Trio
  7. The Last Sunrise (Dusk Mix) - Aiden
  8. Bite to Break Skin (The Legion of Doom Remix) - Senses Fail
  9. Her Portrait in Black - Atreyu
  10. Washing Away Me in the Tides - Trivium
  11. Eternal Battle - Mendozza
  12. Our Truth - Lacuna Coil
  13. Cat People (Putting Out Fire) - Gosling
  14. Why Are You Up - Bobby Gold
  15. Suicide - Meat Beat Manifesto
  16. HW2 - Cradle of Filth (Cover of "Halloween II", originally recorded by Misfits)
Score album
  2. Flyleaf - "Something I Can Never Have" (Nine Inch Nails cover)

References

  1. ^ Rotten Tomatoes: Underworld Evlotution
  2. ^ IGN - Comic-Con 2005: Underworld: Evolution Panel
  3. ^ Underworld: Evolution (2006) - Box office / business
  4. ^ a b Underworld: Evolution (2006)
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