EJ Moreno revisits Underworld on its 20th anniversary…
Venture back to 2003 with me. Nu-metal was still around, The Matrix was still a hot franchise, and Buffy The Vampire Slayer was coming to a close. It was quite the time in pop culture, but you may be asking yourself what any of those things have in happen. Well, all of those seemingly random events came together in one piece of media from this time, and that would be 2003’s Underworld.
The leather-filled, rock soundtrack booming, vampire-filled action horror took so much of what made this year great and brought them together in a memorable viewing experience. We’re not here to claim Underworld was a defining moment in cinematic history, but it was one of the best times at the cinemas for us former edge lords.
Filmmaker Len Wiseman was onto something here, and there’s a reason: twenty years later, we are just recovering from this trend-setting movie. Let’s look back at Underworld, how it got made, and how it captured the essence of what made the early 00s so impactful.
As mentioned earlier, 2003 is post-The Matrix and in the middle of the franchise still finding its footing with its sequel released this year. With that, almost every major action movie went the route of leatherbound heroes fighting in stylized gun battles. Those trends undoubtedly played a significant role in the Underworld‘s development, which began with Len Wiseman, Kevin Grevioux, and Danny McBride.
The earliest development days on Underworld would start in 2000 with Wiseman and McBride but would formally take shape by Grevioux entering the fold. He’s credited with mixing the Romeo & Juliet story with the worlds of vampirism and lycanthropy.
The impact Kevin Grevioux had on the overall legacy of Underworld can not be overlooked, and it’s terrific he also got to play such a memorable henchman role in this. Looking at any of the behind-the-scenes footage or making-of documentaries, you get a sense that this film was a passion project for those behind the camera, which allowed everyone else to feed off that energy. The film has a charm, which you can tell began with a strong foundation on the set. Everyone understood the film’s tone, aesthetic, and vibe, even if it was sitting between two genres.
It is hilarious to watch the actors and creators find what to label the film, which could’ve planned into some trickiness with the marketing later on. The film lives in that very early 00s action movie world; the action is filmed in ridiculously stylized ways, with every actor looking extremely hot with their leather and near-beauty lighting. It was the signature, starting with The Matrix but unfolding in Underworld peers like Charlie’s Angels, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and especially 2002’s Resident Evil. But like the latter, it was also dealing with elements from horror; you can’t deny werewolves and vampires are deeply entrenched in horror lore. So, we get a bit of a genre-bending experience, and you can tell in the film’s production that they entirely used both worlds.
Much like the action movies in the early 00s and plenty of horror films before it, Underworld needed the perfect female lead.
Enter Kate Beckinsale.
When the actress moved to Hollywood productions in the late ’90s, fans of Beckinsale were waiting for that defining moment in her career. She’d appear in hit films like Pearl Harbor and Serendipity, but nothing felt like her role. She’d soon be cast in Underworld, which thrust her in a new direction. We’d also see her shortly after entering an entire action era.
At the time, Beckinsale notes the change of pace was welcomed for her. Noting how much she enjoyed the change of pace after appearing in “a bunch of period stuff and then a bunch of romantic comedies. She’d add, “It was quite a challenge for me to play an action heroine and pull off all that training when [in real life] I can’t catch a ball if it’s coming my way.”
It all paid off well, as even with the film’s negative reviews, Beckinsale was often a point of praise. She honestly “classes up the joint” with her experience in period pieces and dramas, allowing her to feel like this character more than most. The character of Selene feels lived in, giving us more than what was written on the page. There’s a reason that this character lasted for over a decade, and there are still calls for a return of this iconic character.
Director Len Wiseman knew what he was doing when it came to allowing his actors the space to perfect their characters. There’s a saying for an artist to “define, refine, and shine,” and we see that on display. We have defined characters written and helmed, which were refined by strong actors, and that allowed them all to shine.
Kate Beckinsale became one of the Hollywood It-girls from this project, but we also saw great talents like Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen find their place within this action horror world. Seeing such posh talents as our three leads seamlessly enter this gritty world was compelling.
It paid off with the final product being a fun-filled romp, though upon its release in the fall of 2003, critics weren’t as kind as fans. Famed critic Roger Ebert roasted the characters and story, saying in his review: “This is a movie so paltry in its characters and shallow in its story that the war seems to exist primarily to provide graphic visuals.” Many felt this was the nail in the coffin for the film, but fans kept it alive.
Those aforementioned graphic visuals delighted the horror community, along with the refreshing take on vampires & werewolves. Many can overlook how tired both creatures were in the genre by this time, but this detailed world allowed horror lovers to find something new. We also saw action fans embrace it, becoming another defining moment for these leather & gun actioners. As critics rejected, fans embraced, and we had a cult hit on our hands that made $95.7 million on a $20 million budget.
We can discuss the wildly-dated nu-metal soundtrack, which is still a fun listen for fans of the genre. We could talk about the real-life love triangle between 2 of the leads and the director that happened while filming the project. But one of the biggest stories post-Underworld 2003 is how it became a franchise with lasting power.
None of the sequels hit the levels of this first entry in terms of money or fan reception, but for a film like this to spawn four sequels across a decade is nothing to scoff at. There were sequels, prequels, and even a 2016 attempt to reinvent the franchise; this was in an era where superhero movies were beginning to dominate, and horror fans craved more violent fare.
We saw the Underworld franchise fend off those foes and offer up campy entry after campy entry. It’s wild to look back at this film, though. What many chalked up as a little horror actioner made a bigger splash than anyone could predict and became a staple for many genre fans.
Underworld had something magical in it; maybe the secret sauce was something we could only find back in 2003.
What are your thoughts on Underworld? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
EJ Moreno
