Underworld, S. Darko, and Taken

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

This is the prequel to the previous two Underworld flicks that starred Kate Beckinsale and were directed by her husband Len Wiseman. This film deals with the initial conflict between vampires and werewolves (Lycans). Lycans were originally slaves to the vampires, but soon a more controlled Lycan is born and leads the revolt against the vampires when he falls in love with the head vampire's daughter. It's a story we've slightly seen in the previous Underworld movies, but not fleshed out like this. Unfortunately, Kate Beckinsale and director Len Wiseman did not return for this prequel, but the other main actors did to reprise their roles. The movie isn't great and the first two Underworld's are way better, but at least this movie is worth watching. I was a fan of the first two and skipped this flick in theatres because I was afraid of it being terrible, but I was slightly surprised when it was a decent story with decent acting. So, give it a try - you'll probably at least like it.

S. Darko

As you might guess from the title, this is a sequel to the hit film, Donnie Darko. Of course, Donnie Darko wasn't really a hit in theatres and took awhile to become a hit on DVD as word of mouth spread and lit the film on fire. Since that time, people have fallen in love with the weird time-traveling tale presented in Donnie Darko. Skip to 7 years later and you've got S. Darko or Samantha Darko all grown up and on a road trip with best friend Corey. Things happen, time-travel gets brought in, weird and seemingly unrelated things start to unravel and the whole thing still doesn't make sense. I'm sure somewhere in there - it all pulls together nicely, but unlike the previous Donnie Darko - this tale has little power when it comes to pulling the audience into the mystery. S. Darko is a terrible sequel to an amazing movie. This is not really worth watching unless you are a die hard Darko fan and you'll probably be disappointed after insisting that you watch it. Skip this one.

Taken

For a movie that made major bucks at the box office, I still don't get the appeal. Maybe it's the relatively non-stop action, maybe its the slight thriller aspects, maybe it's Liam Neeson punching people in the neck and maybe it's just the right movie at the right time. However, it wasn't nearly as appealing to me. I watched this film with the idea that a world class actor was in a action/thriller about his daughter being kidnapped which did extremely well at the box office so it should be quite good. Well, I think I should have went into it thinking it was a low cost action fest with an actor trying to make a few bucks on the side. Taken is a good film, but not as good as it was made out to be. Overall, the acting was good. The girl who plays the daughter is annoying as can be, but Mr. Neeson manages to carry most of the film with his little dialogue. Special effects were few and far between but the action sequences were well choreographed and kept the story moving after some slow parts. Taken is worth watching - just don't go into it thinking it's going to be great as you may be disappointed.

That's it for this week. A few weeks ago, I talked about doing some 'old' reviews and I'm going to start this week.

Donnie Darko

This film was released in theatres in 2001 and was a failure. It found new life on DVD and managed to get released again in theatres as a special Director's Cut which did okay. The film is more highly regarded as a cult classic these days with many people discovering the flick on DVD and becoming quite disturbed by it - even though they like it and want to watch it again. Usually as soon as it is over. The movie has that effect on you. It's a tale of a boy who has weird vision of a man in a bunny outfit that talk to him about the end of the world. The large bunny rabbit convinces him to commit crimes and other things as the boy soon dives into theories on time-travel. The film is quite fittingly weird and is nicely made with fitting direction, acting, and music, especially a track that plays hauntingly at the end. Donnie Darko is a great film - a wonderful experience for those looking for something different. Give Donnie Darko a try - it's well worth it.