Re-Examining Underworld: A Tale of Vampires, Werewolves, and Forbidden Love
When Underworld debuted in 2003, it presented a fresh take on classic horror elements, immediately captivating audiences. The novel premise of a war between vampires and werewolves, two creatures deeply ingrained in the horror genre, proved to be a stroke of genius. The director crafted a sprawling mythology that would give rise to numerous films, animated shorts, and comic book adaptations.
At the heart of this success was the enthralling Kate Beckinsale, whose portrayal of Selene firmly established her as a modern action icon alongside legends like Sarah Connor and Ellen Ripley. It’s her iconic performance that grounds the entire franchise.
The Seeds of a Dark Romance
When we are first introduced to Selene and Michael, the viewers can instantly understand that they are from very different places. Selene is a Death Dealer for the vampires, sworn to hunt down the Lycans, but Michael is a medical student who only comes into the supernatural when beings pursuit him. The appearance of Michael is the catalyst of Seiene’s eventual character development when she finds out that Michael is an offspring from the Corvinus bloodline, who can be traced to both vampires and werewolves. This marks Michael as a target, with both wanting to harness his power, or kill him for being a threat to the system
A Forbidden Love Emerges
Underworld sets to built a strong romantic foundation between its 2 main characters, from start to finish. When Selene glances over to Michael in the subway, the movie tries to say that the composed Death Dealer is also struck by the mortal. When Beckinsale and Speedman are sharing the same scene, viewers can evidently see the spark and sexual tension between them. They really culminate the tension in the scenario, where Selene has to protect Michael by biting him. It’s quite tender, more romantically charged than what most viewer can assume, and it mirrors how the Lycan Lucian and the vampire Sonja fall in love and lead into the vampire/werewolf war. It shows explicitly in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Echoes of Shakespeare: A Modern Romeo and Juliet
The framework of Underworld actually bears a strong resemblance to what one of what its writers underwent. In c0-writing the script, Kevin Grevioux, sought inspiration straight from Romeo and Juliet. The movie bases its vampire and werewolf attributes from the time of study of biology and chemistry. Instead of a supernatural creation, the vampires and the werewolves gain their strengths from a form of a virus. Blade has already talked about the idea of having vampires powered by science, but Underworld popularized it instead, breathing energy into the creation of future action movie with supernatural elements.
When absorbed into the world of the original movie, the audience can see parallels to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Belonging to the oppossing side of the two groups at war, Selene and Michael are star-crossed lovers. Even with the ongoing violence, they are attracted towards one another. Because of how their love is forbidden, Michael is the recipient of experimentation and Selene needs to always reject a craving vampire leader named Kraven. Thankfully, their story surpasses Shakespeare, with their enemies defeated leading them to their eventual escape. Not to mention they are technically dead, so that rules out suicide.
Expanding the Universe
Underworld’s success in theatres paved the way for a trilogy. They wanted to ensure that they can continue creating the Underworld movies. Underworld : Evolution was released in 2006. Underworld : Rise of the Lycans was later released to elaborate on events that occurred earlier and to show the forbidden love that created this war between vampires and werewolves. Selene and Michael starts their romance after a chase in Evolution. This movie builds upon the chemistry they established in the earlier movie. Rise of the Lycans, on the other hand, conveys tragedy when it shows that Lycans were once enslaved by vampires and how Lucian was unable to prevent Sonja from buring alive.
Longing for What Was
Underworld: Awakening cast some bitterness in the viewers’ mouths because they are taking awat the Selene and Michael romantic arc. Waking up after being cryogenically frozen, Selene found out that government are on the hunt on her vampire community. Other than that, she saw that she has a daughter name Eve. Sadly, Speedman did not return as Michael, creating a very hollow void in the process. If Michael has an important role for Selene, wouldn’t want to make him appear during the runtime of the movie? Given how the original focuses on romance, the other installation feels very hollow. Going foward, any team trying to reboot the story needs to highlight the initial romantic story.