Underworld Reviews: Our Verdict on Every Film

Our Underworld reviews cover five films released between 2003 and 2017, and the short verdict is that the series starts strong, dips in the middle and has its best moment in a prequel. A full review of each film will be linked here as it is published. Until then, these verdicts are opinions I will stand behind (my taste leans toward creature work and clear rules, so weigh them accordingly). For the full ranking, see underworld movies ranked, and for the series itself start at the underworld movies hub.

Underworld (2003), directed by Len Wiseman, is where the series sets its rules: vampires and Lycans fight a hidden war, and Kate Beckinsale's Selene is a Death Dealer who notices the Lycans following a medical resident named Michael Corvin. It ran on a $22 million budget and took about $96 million worldwide, per Box Office Mojo. Bill Nighy as Viktor and Michael Sheen as Lucian give the cast real weight. In my opinion it is the cleanest entry point, and the Budapest shoot gives it a cold gothic look the later films only partly kept.

Underworld: Evolution (2006), also directed by Wiseman, widens the myth with Tony Curran as Marcus Corvinus, Derek Jacobi as Alexander Corvinus and Brian Steele as William Corvinus, the first werewolf. It cost $45 million and grossed about $111 million worldwide. It is louder than the first film, and in my opinion it spends more energy on lore than on story, but the creature work is the most ambitious of the five. The rock heavy soundtrack, with Puscifer, My Chemical Romance and Lacuna Coil, suits it. The background is in the corvinus bloodline guide.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009) is a prequel set long before the events of the first film, and it was Patrick Tatopoulos's first feature as director after designing creatures on the earlier films, according to Screen Daily. Rhona Mitra plays Sonja, and the tragedy of Lucian and Viktor's daughter gives it a spine the others lack. It runs 92 minutes on a $35 million budget and grossed about $92 million worldwide. This is my pick for the best film in the series, because every set piece serves the question of why the Lycans were enslaved.

Underworld: Awakening (2012), directed by Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein, is the shortest film at 88 minutes and the most expensive at $70 million. It is also the biggest earner, at about $160 million worldwide. Selene wakes in a world that has turned on both species and meets Eve, a young girl held in the lab, which makes it a lean chase film. The mythology is thin, but it moves.

Underworld: Blood Wars, directed by Anna Foerster, opened in Australia in December 2016 and in the US in January 2017. It runs 91 minutes on a $35 million budget and grossed about $81 million worldwide, the lowest of the five. The Eastern Coven politics and Tobias Menzies as Marius are a sensible setup, but the Czech locations are better than the action staged in them. I rank it last.

If you are new, follow the underworld movies in order guide, and meet the lead in selene underworld. If you still want a number for each film, the underworld box office page covers the money side.