Kate Beckensale returns to the screen as Selene in Underworld:  Evolution, which picks up immediately following the original.  This made the movie feel less like a “sequel” and more like the completion of a story that was in the process of being told. 

 This was effective because the audience is already involved in the plot.  Like most sequels to a movie you enjoy, I already care about the characters and I understand their journey.  Because the previous movie ended with a revelation that changes the main character’s motives, I was very interested to see Selene react and fight with a new perspective.  I enjoyed how this film built on the last one by explaining a lot more, and it went into a lot more depth about where and how these immortal creatures began.

 Unfortunately starting the movie immediately after the last one (but two years later) was also ineffective in a lot of ways.  I felt like I had watched this same movie before, and the energy and mood that the original created felt tired and old in this new one.  The plot was very linear with few characters, and while the one storyline it focused on was interesting, I missed the aspect of being in a city and having this whole other world of side characters.  I also felt like the plot was driven to make Selene the powerful center of this immortal world.  While I understand why the writer would do this (her husband), I felt a lot of the plot points to drive her there were unrealistic.

 So How Does It End?

 Before I discuss the ending, I want to point out what I found to be some major errors in this film and wanted to do so safely after our spoiler alert. :)

First, they mention very briefly that Marcus is a hybrid.  There is no point in this and while they never explain why he is a hybrid, the viewer can assume it is because he was awakened when the dead lycan’s blood seeped into his tomb.  This does not explain how Selene would know that he is a hybrid however, indicating that he was a hybrid in the past and this fact does nothing to add to the story.

 Second, I found the death of Alexander Corvinus to be extremely pathetic.  This is the original immortal man.  His death signifies a complete lack of character consistency in order to drive a plot that leaves Selene at the helm.  For him to surrender seemed like a cheap plot device.

 And finally, this movie does an unreliable job with the deaths (or lives) of immortals.  Apparently some will die after one shot (like the women that Tanis keeps for his vampire porn) and others continue to attack after literally hundreds of shots that realistically should have ripped their immortal bodies to shreads.  Also, the original Lycan William is awakened in his tomb after hundreds of years and seems to be as healthy as can be, while the vampire elders require great amounts of feeding before they are ready to fight.

This movie barely earns it ranking and truly defines the term average.  But I have to admit there was enough to enjoy about this film if you were a fan of the first.  I give it 3 out of 5