A flashy, but poor action sequel

It's hard to say what exactly made "Underworld" a worthwhile film. Bits of action mixed into a Gothic-horror-thriller, a chilling cinematographic palette of blues and grays, an interesting storyline depicting the war between vampires and werewolves (called "lycans" in the film), or maybe all of this was an impressive mark for first-time writer/director Len Wiseman. Sure "Underworld: Evolution" had plot-holes here and there, the whole point of making a sequel would clearly be to fill them and expand on the storyline a bit. Unfortunately, "Evolution" chose to evolve in terms of money-wasting instead of story/character expansion. \nI'll save any type of first film summary since chances are the only reason you're seeing "Evolution" is because you enjoyed the first one; if you didn't the film makes it a point to spend the first 15 minutes bringing you up to speed. With "Evolution" we find vampire Death Dealer Selene (Kate Beckinsale) and vampire/lycan hybrid Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman) in love and on the run as Marcus (Tony Curran), one of the original vampire lords, has been awakened with a lust for blood. Selene's blood. \nIt fills the plot-holes, adds a bit of back story, but ultimately is more concerned with being an action piece drenched in gore. The first 10 minutes alone contain more blood than every drop combined in the original film. Add in helicopters carrying vampire SWAT units, exploding oil tankers and plenty more budget burners and you'd swear Michael Bay was directing the film. But, Bay would've done better. \nIn "Underworld" there was never a single ray of sunshine and the world was cloaked in darkness and rain. And yet now the world is apparently full of daylight opportunities to reduce Beckinsale to a burnt out husk. She was a badass in the first film, but now all she does is repetitious swan dives off everything, popping bullets into vampires and lycans alike, yet oddly seems weaker in heroine status. And for being a creature of infinite possibilities, Speedman rarely has a chance to showcase his fighting capabilities at great lengths. \nThe wonderful cinematography of the original is now sparse, a Beckinsale/Speedman sex scene is awkwardly unromantic and the special effects are no better quality than before. Perhaps all that money "Underworld" made at the box office and from rentals would've been better spent on digital effects upgrades instead of exploding ships. \nI'm glad they filled the plot-holes from the original and obviously got the sequel made after a lengthy three year wait. Maybe after subsequent viewings I might even appreciate "Evolution" more like I did with its prequel. For now I am left only mildly impressed and chances are you will be too.