Underworld: Evolution (also known as Underworld 2) is the second installment (chronologically, the third) in the Underworld series, following Underworld in 2003. Evolution continues the feud between Vampires and Lycans, but highlights glimpses of their origins some centuries ago.
The film is an immediate follow-up to Underworld. The events of Evolution begin during the same night of the first film's finale.
Plot
In the year 1202 A.D., an army led by three vampire elders (Markus, Viktor, and Amelia) arrives at a Lycan ravaged village. After killing several werewolves, Viktor and Amelia capture their target: Markus's brother, William Corvinus, the first and most powerful werewolf. Despite Markus's defiance, Viktor orders that William be imprisoned in a secret location forever.
In the present day (just after the events of the first film), Selene takes Michael to a safe house so that she can return to the mansion to confront Kraven. She knows Kraven intends to kill Markus and plans to stop him. However, Singe's blood has already awakened Markus, turning him into a Vampire-Dominant hybrid. Markus wipes out Kraven and his men, and destroys the mansion. Lorenz Macaro, an elderly and imposing man, sends in a team of "cleaners" to investigate the aftermath from the battle in the Lycans' lair. When Macaro examines Viktor's body he finds a metal disk inside his ribcage which is the match to Sonja's pendant. The other half of the pendant is in the possession of Selene and Michael.
Markus learns of Selene and Michael's location from camera surveillance of various safe houses and leaves to track them down. He attacks Selene and Michael, who evade him and hide in a warehouse. While inside, Selene and Michael share their feelings and have intercourse. Now knowing that the pendant is of some importance to Markus, Michael and Selene set out to solve its mystery. Selene recalls that she'd seen it as a child, but doesn't know its significance. To find answers, they travel to the hideout of the exiled vampire historian, Andreas Tanis. Selene and Michael confront Tanis, who reveals that Markus, not Viktor, was the first vampire; one of the three sons of Alexander Corvinus, the first immortal. Markus was bitten by a bat and became a vampire; his twin brother, William, was bitten by a wolf and became a werewolf. The third son remained human his entire life and gave rise to a line of descendants including Michael, who became the first Lycan-Vampire Hybrid. The first werewolves created by William were entirely animal and unable to take human form again. Due to William's destructiveness, Markus approached Viktor, a warlord dying of old age, and offered to turn him and his army into immortal vampires in exchange for tracking down and stopping William, and in destroying those he had infected.
Markus intended to capture his brother and tame him, but Viktor ordered that William be locked away forever, far away from Markus. Viktor did not kill the brothers because he believed that doing so would result in the immediate extinction of all other vampires and his Lycan slaves (a deception he had been fed by Markus). Tanis also reveals that Selene's father was the architect who built William's prison and that the pendant is a key. After Lucian's escape, Viktor killed Selene's family as they knew of the prison's location, but turned Selene into a vampire. Tanis then refers Selene and Michael to Lorenz Macaro for help. Shortly after they leave, Markus arrives and questions Tanis, who lies desperately and tries to evade telling Markus he told Selene the family secrets. Tired of hearing Tanis' lies, Markus learns the truth by drinking his blood, leaving Tanis dead.
Selene and Michael go to see Lorenz Macaro, who is actually Alexander Corvinus. Alexander reveals that he has devoted his life to containing the Vampire-Lycan War from the mortal world, however, he refuses to help kill his sons. When Markus arrives, he impales Michael on a small pole and learns the location of William's hidden prison by drinking Selene's blood. He then attacks and mortally wounds his father and obtains the other half of the pendant, after deriding his father's refusal to help William and revealing he and William intend to rule the world as god-like masters of a race of hybrids. On Alexander's bidding, Selene drinks his blood, enhancing her physical strength and healing abilities to a level equivalent to that of a Hybrid such as Michael and Markus themselves.[citation needed] When Selene asked what she would become, Alexander simply stated "the future". Afterwards, Alexander blows up his ship, killing himself.
Selene, aboard Corvinus' helicopter, leads the cleaners to the prison to confront and destroy Markus, but he has already freed William. A battle ensues in which William bites the cleaners and begins turning them into werewolves. Michael, presumed to be dead inside his body-bag aboard the helicopter, suddenly regenerates and joins the fight in his Hybrid form. He ultimately kills William by tearing his head apart. Selene is then stabbed in the abdomen by Markus, but it doesn't kill her and she pushes him into the crashed helicopter's spinning blades, killing him. After the battle, Selene suddenly notices that her hand is fully bathed in sunlight coming from the roof above, and she remains unharmed. Selene narrates that she fears the days ahead, as the death of the Elders will cause nothing but chaos, but she is nevertheless hopeful.
Cast
Reception
Critical response
The film was not well-received by critics. As of January 2012 it has a 16% overall approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 101 reviews.[1] A few scenes of the film were shown in a panel at Comic-Con in San Diego, in July 2005; however, these scenes did not contain any plot spoilers of the new script, with attendees only being informed about the new hybrids by production designer Patrick Tatopoulos. The previewing was well-received as hundreds of fans waited hours to see a clip of the film as well as Kate Beckinsale and the other stars of the movie.[2]
Jeannette Catsoulis of New York Times criticized the film's "steel-blue filter" and described it as "a monotonous barrage of computer-generated fur and fangs"[3]. Peter Hartlaub of San Francisco Chronicle opened his review "you can tell that Underworld: Evolution is trying to be an artistic action-horror film, because every scene is bathed in the color blue", going on to say the film is "an admirable attempt to test the boundaries of the genre" but that it is confusing and not fun to watch.[4]
Box office
The film opened on 3,207 screens with a weekend box office (January 20–22, 2006) of $26.9 million or an average of $8,388 per theater.[5] As of March 12, 2006, the film grossed a total of $62.3 million in the United States and $111.3 million worldwide.[5]
Home media
It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on June 6, 2006.[citation needed]
Prequel and Sequel
The background history that lead to the current Vampire-Lycan War (depicted in the first and second films) continues in the third film of the series, the prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.
A fourth film, sequel to Evolution, was released on January 20, 2012, called Underworld: Awakening.[6]
Music
Soundtrack
| Professional ratings |
| Review scores |
| Source |
Rating |
| Allmusic |
   [7] |
The soundtrack was released on January 10, 2006 by Lakeshore Records. Unlike its predecessor, none of the music included was written especially for the project (save for the Morning After track by Dead by Sunrise, which was remixed specifically for the soundtrack), although many of the tracks have so far been exclusive to the soundtrack. Original plans to include the Adema song "Shoot the Arrows" from their third album Planets, were scrapped when lead singer Luke Caraccioli left the band citing "personal differences".
- Track listing
- The Undertaker (Renholdër Mix) - Puscifer
- Morning After (Julien-K Remix) - Chester Bennington
- Where Do I Stab Myself in the Ears (The Legion of Doom Remix) - Hawthorne Heights
- To the End (RnR Cheryl Mix) - My Chemical Romance
- Vermillion, Pt. 2 (Bloodstone Mix) - Slipknot
- Burn (Alleged Remix) - Alkaline Trio
- The Last Sunrise (Dusk Mix) - Aiden
- Bite to Break Skin (The Legion of Doom Remix) - Senses Fail
- Her Portrait in Black - Atreyu
- Washing Away Me in the Tides - Trivium
- Eternal Battle - Mendozza
- Our Truth - Lacuna Coil
- Cat People (Putting Out Fire) - Gosling
- Why Are You Up - Bobby Gold
- Suicide - Meat Beat Manifesto
- HW2 - Cradle of Filth (Cover of "Halloween II", originally recorded by Misfits)
Score
| Underworld Evolution (Original Score) |
 |
| Film score by Marco Beltrami |
| Released |
February 28, 2006 |
| Label |
Lakeshore Records |
| Underworld film series score album chronology |
Underworld
(2003) |
Underworld: Evolution
(2006) |
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
(2009) |
|
| 1. |
"The Crawl" |
0:52 |
| 2. |
"Ol' Timey Music" |
4:58 |
| 3. |
"William Captured" |
0:55 |
| 4. |
"Previously..." |
2:18 |
| 5. |
"Safehouse 2 Crypt" |
4:12 |
| 6. |
"Stay" |
0:55 |
| 7. |
"Corvin's Cruisin' Crypt" |
3:11 |
| 8. |
"Morgue Medallion" |
2:43 |
| 9. |
"Mike To Tarvern" |
1:30 |
| 10. |
"Mikey Doesn't Like It" |
3:31 |
| 11. |
"Cue De Cilantro" |
2:15 |
| 12. |
"Trunkin'" |
2:38 |
| 13. |
"Marcus Trumpped" |
0:30 |
| 14. |
"Marcus Hits Snooze" |
0:50 |
| 15. |
"Beware of Dog" |
3:53 |
| 16. |
"Shot Glass" |
1:53 |
| 17. |
"Family Values" |
4:29 |
| 18. |
"Marcus Taps Tannis" |
2:08 |
| 19. |
"Patricide" |
4:15 |
| 20. |
"Alexander Can Help" |
1:02 |
| 21. |
"He is my Sonshine" |
1:31 |
| 22. |
"Heli - Ride" |
3:36 |
| 23. |
"William's Castle" |
2:54 |
| 24. |
"Selene, Willie & Marcus" |
3:36 |
| 25. |
"Trying To Kill Will" |
0:59 |
| 26. |
"Kill Will 2" |
2:10 |
| 27. |
"Marcus Trumpped Again" |
1:33 |
| 28. |
"The Future" |
2:34 |
| 29. |
"Something I Can Never Have - Performed by Flyleaf" |
4:57 |
| 30. |
"EracTou -Performed by cEvin Key & Ken Marshall" |
3:19 |
|
Total length:
|
01:15:56 |
References
External links
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| Characters |
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| Music |
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| Books by Greg Cox |
- Underworld (2003)
- Underworld: Blood Enemy (2004)
- Underworld: Evolution (2006)
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| Video games |
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