Underworld (film): Difference between revisions

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The main plot revolves around the struggle between the Lycans, a former slave race to the vampires, rebelling and the latter vowing to exterminate them. All because Lucian, a Lycan, and vampire lord Viktor's daughter fell in love and conceived a child. Viktor ordered her killed to ensure the [[Hybrid Monster|"Abomination"]] would not come to term. Lucian escaped and the rest, as they say, is history.

In the modern day, Lycans have been "hunted to near extinction", or so the Vampire nobles think, but in reality they are gathering in numbers and planning on wiping out the vampire leadership with a plot to create their own hybrid on the eve of the vampire elders switching power. This is where Michael comes in. He is, among the descendants of the Corvinus clan, the only one with the genetic makeup capable of letting him be turned into a vampire ''and'' a werewolf. Normal humans can only be turned into one or the other; trying to "mix" causes death. Selene, a vampire Death Dealer with a personal vendetta against all werewolves, notices the Lycan's botched kidnapping of Michael, and helps him escape capture. Along the way, they begin to fall in love, an issue that gets all the more complicated when he gets bitten and starts turning into a werewolf. Can their love survive their species' natural hatred?

 

 

* '''''Underworld''''' (2003) introduces the basic setting, as well as the main characters: Selene and Michael, who are caught in the conflict between Viktor's vampire court and the rebellious Lycans led by Lucian.

* '''''Underworld: Rise of the Lycans''''' (2009) depicts the origin of the Lycan rebellion against their Vampire masters, sparked by the [[Star-Crossed Lovers]] Lucian and Sonja, Viktor's vampire daughter. [[Foregone Conclusion|As may be expected from a prequel]], it has a [[Downer Ending]].

* '''''Underworld: Awakening''''' (2012) is set approximately 12 years after ''Evolution'' and revolves around Selene, fresh out of torpor, trying to find her and Michael's daughter in the midst of [[Broken Masquerade|the extermination of both Vampires and Lycans at the hands of humanity]].

 

* [[Abnormal Ammo]]: Silver bullets are to be expected, but special liquid silver nitrate bullets are used to prevent the projectiles from being easily removed. The Lycans, for their part, have developed UV rounds for use against the vamps.

* [[Absurdly Sharp Blade]]: Victor's sword, which Selene uses against him.

* [[Ancient Conspiracy]]: Both the masquerade setting itself, and ''within'' the vampire clan under the noses of its members.

* [[Anticlimax]]: In the first movie, a Lycan starts to transform and it looks like it's going to have a knock-down drag-out fight with a vampire. Said vampire is quickly knocked down and torn to pieces.

* [[Anti-Villain]]: By the end of the first movie, {{spoiler|Lucian}} is a villain only by virtue of being on the opposite side.

* [[Aristocrats Are Evil]]: The vampires.

* [[Black and Grey Morality]]:The whole vampire werewolf conflict, also ''Rise of The Lycans'' and ''Evolution'' are the only films with the protagonists can be argued to be the more heroic participants in the conflict, rather than the guys with the current viewpoint.

* [[Big Bad]]: Viktor in the first movie and ''Rise of the Lycans'', Marcus in ''Evolution'', Dr. Lane in ''Awakening''.

* [[Bottomless Magazines]]: Selene's automatic pistols must just be magical, roaring with one continuous noise as they spew bullets like water out of a hose. Her infamous [[Bullethole Door|Bullet Hole Trap Door]] is only one example.

** The stunt itself was no picnic. Kate Beckinsale states in the commentary that the shrapnel from the broken floor tile was exploding into her face.

** Inverted with the bottom of a rapidly descending elevator in ''Awakening''. {{spoiler|The elevator lands on her, but the bullets made the floor weak enough (and she's ''tough enough'') that it doesn't particularly bother her.}}

* [[Capulet Counterpart]]: Selene.

* [[Calling the Old Man Out]]: Selene in ''Evolution'' to Alexander Corvinus, in response to his [[Not So Different]] lecture.

* [[Cat Fight]]: Subverted in the second film. Twice. In the span of ''[[Curb Stomp Battle|ten seconds]]''.

* [[Cleanup Crew]]: Alexander Corvinus leads a group of men, appropriately called [[Shaped Like Itself|The Cleaners]], who cover up the evidence of lycans and vampires. {{spoiler|They are all killed by Marcus in ''Evolution'', which is what probably led to humans learning of the existence of lycans and vampires in ''Awakening''.}}

* [[Dirty Coward]]: Kraven.

* [[The Dog Bites Back]]: Literally when Lucian leads the Lycan rebellion. {{spoiler|Lucian himself runs afoul of it when Kraven kills him.}}

* [[Dual-Wielding]]: In the first film, one of the vampire lieutenants decides the best way to fight a hulking werewolf in an environment with many projections and obstructions is to uncoil a pair of silver razored whips. {{spoiler|It doesn't work out when one of his whips gets wrapped around one of the projecting pieces of structure.}}. Viktor also whips out a pair of large knives from his sleeves during his battle with Selene.

* [[Dying Like Animals]]: {{spoiler|In ''Awakening'' after the humans have hunted vampires and lycans to the brink of extinction. Lycans apparently went out like boars, rose up and fought the humans; and were massacred. Vampires seem to be chickens, mostly just hiding. The leader of one coven is like a mouse; but in fairness he saw what happened to the boars. Subverted in that the lycans weren't wiped out, they were able to infiltrate the government. They used humans to wipe out vampires, while secretly making themselves stronger.}}

* [[Every Helicopter Is a Huey]]: Very nearly averted in ''Evolution'' - the helicopter shown in long-shots is a modified SA 360 Dauphin that just happens to [[The Coconut Effect|sound like]] a Huey. Unfortunately, sometime between the helicopter landing and [[The Squad]] piling out the back, it's turned into a Huey anyway. In an apparent compromise, the prop used after it inevitably crashes and turns into a [[Helicopter Blender]] looks like some unholy fusion between the two.

* [[Evil Brit]]: Seemingly played straight with Lucian in the first film. But then subverted when it turns out {{spoiler|he isn't the villain, or at all evil.}}

** The werewolf doctor in ''Underworld'' has a family tree showing the dates for the Corvinus family dating back to the 5th century AD with Marcus Corvinus.

** And then there's Alexander, who reveals himself to have been the father of the original Marcus Corvinus; still alive after approximately 1600 years.

* [[Faux Action Girl]]: Sonja in ''Rise of the Lycans''. Despite being the leader of the Death Dealers, Sonja needs almost constant rescuing.

** And for the ladies, Michael almost always fights shirtless, while in the third film, Lucian shows off just about ''everything''.

* [[Foregone Conclusion]]: If you watched the movies in production order, there's no way you didn't know how ''Rise of the Lycans'' was going to end.

* [[Fur Against Fang]]: The premise.

* [[Genetic Memory]]: Carried in the blood of both werewolves and vampires are the "parent's" memories, which can be accessed by drinking.

* [[Hey, It's That Guy!]]: Lycan doctor Singe managed to put behind [[Das Boot|his U-boat experience]].

** Thomas, from Awakening, [[Game of Thrones|still doesn't care for the wolf, and always pays his debts.]]

** And Viktor again, in ''Rise of the Lycans''. When Lucian is born, he gets the feeling that he should kill the infant, but doesn't, leading to the following exchange:

'''Lucian:''' Yes, you should have. *stabs Viktor through the mouth* But you didn't. }}

** Dr. Lane in ''Awakening'' {{spoiler|has his neck ripped out through his throat by the hybrid he created.}}

** The super lycan in the same film is {{spoiler|doomed by his own [[Healing Factor]]. See [[Luckily, My Powers Will Protect Me]].}}

* [[Hiss Before Fleeing]]: Vampires in general.

* [[Hybrid Overkill Avoidance]]: Why there are no hybrids before Michael.

* [[Hybrid Monster]]: Michael Corvin becomes one, specifically {{spoiler|the first Half-vampire-half-Lycan}}. Later, {{spoiler|Marcus also becomes one}}. There's also Subject 2, the daughter of Michael Corvin created in a lab. Oddly, none of them are quite the same kind of hybrid, despite being mixes of the same species.

** A more likely candidate would be Kraven. From slipping up and dropping Lucian's name in argument with Selene to...just about everything else his ego leads him to do.

* [[I Did What I Had to Do]]:

'''Viktor:''' [[Berserk Button|I loved my daughter! But the abomination growing in her womb was a betrayal of me and the coven!]] I did what was necessary to protect the species! [[Here We Go Again|As I am forced to do yet again!]] }}

* [[I Hate You, Vampire Dad]]: Both Sonja and Selene suffer this.

* [[The Masquerade]]: It's revealed in the second film that Sir Derek Jacobi and his merry men have been following the vampires around and cleaning up their mess. They even mention bribing witnesses to keep their mouths shut. {{spoiler|The fact that Markus kills all of them is probably what led to the [[Broken Masquerade]].}}

** [[The Unmasqued World]]: In ''Awakening'', humans have [[Broken Masquerade|found out about vampires and lycans]] and started hunting down both of them. Selene, while breaking into a sporting goods/gun store, sees vampire and lycan teeth on sale.

** Selene, which means "moon".

* [[Mono-Gender Monsters]]: Going by the movies, there was exactly ''one'' female Lycan, Lucian's mother, who was infected while pregnant. Though presumably the virus is just as contagious to both genders, the use of this trope was [[Justified]] as the vampires wanting only male lycan slaves.

** There's also a few distinct mentions of female Lycans within the novels of the movies.

* [[Monster Progenitor]]: William Corvinus is the Progenitor of all Lycans. Markus Corvinus, his brother, is the progenitor of all Vampires. Unlike other Lycans, William cannot change back to a human. Markus, unlike other vampires, is capable of changing form to that of a vampire with bat wings, giving him flight; but only after he becomes a hybrid.

** Somewhat justified as, in ''Evolution'', she {{spoiler|became a hybrid 'True Immortal' and Vampire thanks to Alexander Corvinus.}}

*** Additionally, the {{spoiler|heart-pump was preceeded by slashing her own palm open, presumably to allow her enhanced blood to infuse and alter the deceased, albeit to a lesser extent or on a temporary basis.}}

** Not to mention Eve, {{spoiler|the daughter of Selene and Michael, whom Selene flat-out states will grow to become even ''more'' powerful than she is.}}

* [[Not So Different]]: Alexander Corvinus gives both this and a [[Reason You Suck Speech]] to Selene when she asks him for help killing Markus. For her response, see [[Calling the Old Man Out]].

'''Alexander Corvinus:''' You are asking me to help you kill my son - YOU, a Death Dealer? How many innocents have YOU slain in your six-century quest to avenge your family? Spare me your self-righteous declarations! You are no different from Marcus and even less noble than William - at least HE cannot control his savagery! }}

* [[Of Corsets Sexy]] / [[Spy Catsuit]]: Selene's outfit.

* [[Replacement Goldfish]]: Kraven, probably accurately, believes that Viktor only turned Selene because she reminded him of his dead vampire daughter. {{spoiler|Which becomes ''really'' awkward when its revealed Viktor killed his daughter, and Selene's family.}}

* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: Selene does this in ''Awakening'' {{spoiler|first to search for Michael and later to rescue Eve.}}

* [[Self-Made Orphan]]: {{spoiler|Marcus, and also Selene, if you consider Viktor, the vampire who infected her, to be considered her "father."}}

* [[Scary Black Man]]: Raze.

*** It might have been that tracking down the female descendants would have been lot harder, due to the name change, so they just focused on the male-line descent.

* [[Sissy Villain]]: Kraven.

** Overlaps with [[Sliding Scale of Shiny Versus Gritty]].

** Keeping in mind, the lycans have had to survive on the fringe for the past several centuries, biding their time while being persistently hunted by the Death Dealers. They simply haven't had the time or resources to properly integrate into advanced society.

*** He does appear to have lost his gun.

* [[Treasure Chest Cavity]]: Viktor has one half of the key to William's prison hidden inside his chest. (The other half is hanging around Lucian's neck, or at least was in the first film.)

* [[Vampire Monarch]]: Marcus Corvinus is the first of the vampire elders.

* [[Viral Transformation]]

* [[World of Ham]]

* [[Would Hit a Girl]]: Kraven gives Selene a vicious slap to the face.

** Selene [[Genre Savvy|shows signs of being aware of this]]. She recognizes that Kraven is not enough of a warrior to have actually killed Lucian, but as the only survivor could claim that he did. She also initially comments that the Lycans started the war, but then admits that that is what is said anyway. By the second film, she's (accurately) assumed virtually everything Viktor has said is a lie.

* [[You Sexy Beast]]: Vampires are sleek and seductive, dressing in stylish gothic fashions. Werewolves are brawny, rough-and-tumble men in leather. [[They Fight Crime|They have sex]].

[[Category:Films of the 2010s]]

[[Category:Films of the 2000s]]

[[Category:Film]]