Underworld Evolution -- 2006 -- R

From the opening of the film, I was a little concerned about how this woudl play out. It's a sequel to Underworld of 2003, and we started out with a huge prologue of exposition about some new characters and expanding the backstory considerably. Fortunately many of the elements of the ending of the first film carried over and it started to make a bit more sense. It used the first film as a stepping point and moved on from there, but still told a self-contained story.

The characters were decent for an action flick that borders on horror, though the sex bits seemed a bit gratutitious unless they can play into things later. This one follows our heroine Selene as she works to hide her Vampire-Lycan hybrid friend turned lover. More of the backstory comes to light as we are introduced to two brothers who are each the source of  the Vampires and Lycans. In a bit of nearly ridiculous sentimentality, in this film, the father cannot destroy the sons for their violations, nor can the sons destroy each other, even though it would be the right thing to do.

The meanings of certain objects came to light, however, and as the film unfolded, I became more and more interested in the storyline, which is a good thing. I'm a plot guy as a lot of people know, so a good, in-depth plot intrigues me to no end. This one has that sort of plot.

A weakness in this one that also prevailed in the first one is the heavy, heavy reliance on guns as a weapon, and the seemingly unending supply of ammo. No one ever ran out of bullets (unless there was a ready gun replacement nearby). The only time anyone ever fought without a gun was against the main baddie, and then it was rare. I think more could have been done with these species in their methods of fighting. Sure there was a limited use of knives (wait, knife) and some bomb action (when it served to further the plot only, not as a defense or offensive weapon), but for the most part, it was guns.

Another item in this film that really didn't happen in the first one was the supernatural healing ability they have. In the first film, a trainload of vampires was attacked and they were killed by scratches and general beatings. They did not heal. I this one, we had the main baddie slammed againt a rock wall on the side of a moving vehicle. He healed. We had the characters take some serious beatings in this one that they never took in the first one. They healed. I thought that might be a bit over the top. Maybe I missed it in the first one though.

I admit to being hooked during the action-intensive climax, so that apparently worked for me. In the end, I thought it was a good enough film with some good action and a very indepth  and thorough plot. In my first viewing of it, I really didn't catch any real holes. So in the end, I felt it was a good, solid film that begs to have more story told.

Rumor mill says there may be another. I just may watch it too.