Underworld

This Crow- and Matrix-influenced, Goth-drenched tale of a centuries-old war between vampires and werewolves could use more plot and deepened characters and less vapid expository dialogue, flashbacks and ballets of bullets. The action-driven story begins with a chase between two small groups of the eternal foes. Bloodsucker Selene (Kate Beckinsale in tight, black leather) is saved by a human (Scott Speedman in loose, black leather) in an ensuing subway shootout. She subsequently befriends him only to discover that he is being hunted by the marauding lycanthropes and may be howling at more than the bad acting of Shane Brolly as Selene’s narcissistic boss, during the next full moon. Selene then awakens a mummified vampire nobleman Viktor (Bill Nighy) 100 years earlier than he had planned to help thwart the sudden reemergence of werewolves, a genocidal threat to the vampire nation. The movie was directed by Len Wiseman.