Underworld: Evolution

It's a casual couch-side ep in the continuation of our Underworld series. We catch up on what we've been watching, chat about Silent Hill 2, and express our mixed feelings about the first Underworld sequel.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome everybody to the Polarized Podcast. This is a

(00:23):
podcast about polarizing movies, polarizing movies in the sense
of Rotten Tomato scores. You know, the movies we discussed on this,
sometimes critics love it, and audiences hate it, or vice versa.
And yeah, that's that's what we cover on this pod. Today in
particular, that polarizing movie is the 2006 sequel, Underworld

(00:48):
Evolution. It has a critic score of 17% and an audience score of
72%. Quite polarizing today on the pod, this is going to be a
pretty special episode. I'm taking it from Couchside. I might
pace around as I just contemplate my life and how I

(01:08):
feel about movies like this and this movie in particular. Yeah,
that's where we're at. I am not going to be the only one though,
talking about this. I'm sure those returning will understand
and know this is a this is what they call in the movie business
is two hander. And I'm sure they probably call it the same in the

(01:31):
podcasting business. I would like to introduce my guest forever
guest in particular. And my forever guest and always host.
Yes. Mr. James Lindsay, how's it going?
Forever guests always host. I like the my guest forever. That

(01:52):
had some sort of romantic longing to it.
Yeah, well, I'm gonna kiss you.
Franta just get me. Oh, I kiss you. I kiss you. This is an
amiable relationship.
Yeah. This is getting spicy already.
I mean, you're already on the couch.

(02:12):
It's a sexy movie. And you know what, it's already getting kind
of sexy in here.
God damn it. It is sexy. They are really steaming up in this
movie. Those those
even up in this film. I would actually though things have
evolved. This podcast has evolved.

(02:32):
Starting from the desk, move to the couch.
Now,
started from the desk, move to the couch, started from the
desk.
Oh, now we're getting up. We're getting up. Where are we going?
Brandon?
Where are we going?
Brandon? I'm already conservatively. What would I

(02:53):
say? Two seconds for me to get so hella jazzed to be on this
podcast with my good buddy talking about a movie I think
is okay. Yeah, I'm already I'm already standing up. But before
we get into the pod, proper or get in the movie proper is what

(03:14):
I should say. Let's do a little check in.
This is just the two of us today.
We have a little opportunity to check in, you know, not try to
get people in here so we can talk with them. We're gonna just
talk us a little bit.

(03:34):
Very intimate this this episode.
Yeah, it's sexy.
James, I have a question for you.
What? What have you been watching?
What have I been watching? What have I been watching? Um, well,
I'm so glad you asked brandini. I have been watching again. I've
been trying to get through. I started it but didn't finish it

(03:58):
last time. So I want to try again. Neon Genesis, Evangelion.
The
tribe that multiple times. I'm hopefully stick with it because
it's not bad.
I'm halfway through it. Yeah, I just hit hit. It's a 26 episode.
At least the portion that's there on Netflix and I know
there's other side stuff that I'll get the calls after that.

(04:19):
And I hit the half point and right at that point, there's a
whole episode that's an entire flashback to the first half of
the season. So anything that you miss is just like, here's what
happened in the first 13 episodes. Classic anime. So I
mean, especially if you're watching it on TV at the time,
that must must have been real nice of like, oh, okay, like I

(04:40):
I missed some of those other part portions. So this is a nice
little way to to get into it before the second second half
begins. So that's so I feel like I can power through to the end
and I'm I'm ready to go. It reminded me a lot of underworld
underworld evolution.
You must have loved that. Just little little voiceover after

(05:02):
the
little different. It was a little different in this one. I don't
know.
No, what are you talking about?
No, it was perfect. Yeah, no, it was perfect. Yeah, you just
like, shake the camera around a bit make it really fuzzy do a
lot of like, filters, processing bullshit to make it be like,
this is like a memory in your mind because that's what it
looks like on the screen. That's how memories look in your mind.

(05:23):
Yes. What else have I been watching? Yeah, I've been going
through the David Lynch stuff. We watched Mulholland Drive
together. That was that was fun.
Really for the first time, I would say and I would categorize
categorizing among the masterpiece. I think it's I'm
so glad you feel that way. I wasn't really wasn't sure how

(05:44):
you're going to feel about that movie.
No, no, because I mean, I know the funny thing is, is like, like
so much of it, I can coming out of it immediately. I was like,
wow, that didn't make a lot of sense. But it just again, like
the beauty of a David Lynch movie is that it's when you stop
trying to make sense when you stop making sense.

(06:05):
Oh, another David. Another David.
Okay, David. Another David.
Yeah, some great David's there.
It just is. It's just such like.
It's so impressionistic,
and I appreciated it a lot more.
I know not that because really, I felt like I watched it for the

(06:27):
first time. I just appreciate that of the movie that.
It I love the idea of it forcing you to relinquish your preconceived
notions or your want and desire to make sense of something and
to just let it be its thing and just accept it on its own terms.
Because I think that's such a wonderful mental exercise for

(06:50):
everybody to do as a person. And I just love the ethos of a David
Lynch movie in that regard is that it is like not it doesn't
behoove you to try to figure it out. It behooves you to just sit
with it and enjoy it and just take it for what it is and not
need to, you know, apply all this meaning to something that,

(07:10):
you know, your own perspective, your own conclusions to it and
just accept it for what it is. And that's such a great message
to put out in the world that like I'm OK with being a weirdo
person and only caring about the things that I think are
interesting. And you don't have to watch this movie. You it's not
a requirement in life, even though I think it should be.

(07:33):
There might be a quiz. I don't know. There might be a quiz on
it later, folks. So be ready for that.
Be ready.
Yeah, like the entirety of life will be summed up and all right.
Did you watch my Holland Drive? Here's that quiz.
Oh, my God. That just makes me think of I just got to the point
in Silent Hill 2 remake where I just got done. That's another
fun section. What do you bleed?

(07:53):
What do you play in the hospital section where I am now in the
underworld, but now I'm leaving the hospital and.
Oh, yeah. You're there for a minute to that hospital and that
game that hospital. Holy shit.
Yeah, man.
That's a big, big section.
But on your way out of the hospital,

(08:17):
you over on the intercom, there's
here is the questions and the answers.
And now you have to just sit with it.
You're going to be asked later.
You're not being asked now.
I'm not saying like, tell me what is the street that you take
to get to this place.

(08:38):
But sit with that.
Here are the potential answers.
It gives you a B and C.
I want to say, and then you just.
Walk out the door and then you're and you're just like, OK, fuck,
because it puts an emphasis too on like, if you don't remember
this and fuck up the the answer when these questions are asked,

(09:00):
it's going to hurt you.
Specifically emphasizes you are going to be in pain if you
answer this incorrectly.
And it was just so interesting to be presented with questions
and answers, but then not need to answer them now.
You have to just keep going.
You don't need to try to get to an answer.
You can't answer it.
You're not going to be able to answer it.

(09:21):
You have to take it to your head.
So you're going to get to the answer now.
Yeah, you have to just discover them and think about them for a
future contest or quiz that you're going to have.
And.
Wow.
There's there's game.
I mean, that's an awesome concept and a,

(09:42):
is puzzles within video games and that game coupled with yeah Resident Evil the the remakes I've been going through of that and
and also seven and eight the newer ones have like
invigorated a love for puzzles in me, especially in silent to or like
Yeah that

(10:02):
Gearing up for that now. I don't know like the last couple of times. I've had puzzles in that game
I feel like I'm looking forward to it when I see a new puzzle that I'm gonna have to figure out like
It's almost excited where it would be very much frustration before of seeing a puzzle
You don't understand at first. I mean like how the fuck am I gonna finish that figure that this out and finish this out

(10:24):
And said it's like wow, this is in a
However many however amount of time is going to make complete sense to me and that's kind of exciting to be like
I'm gonna hit that point, you know relatively soon with how this pace the pace of this game has been going already
where I'm gonna figure it's out and this isn't this is gonna make complete sense and

(10:44):
They piece it out just enough for you and the breadcrumbs are just enough where
it is worth running around this hellscape to find all these clues and
Do the legwork for it because it's
It's it's it's definitely a mood that that game and a dark and scary one at that

(11:06):
but that's I'm glad I really like you brought that up because that's a conversation that
Would have been fun to have in our Silent Hill episode of this
Of this podcast who have both have experienced the game both together
I remember I had watched like the videos of that game
But never played it and I watched you play it played a bit
But you played the original like emulated the original and played it which I thought was so cool

(11:28):
but now yeah playing the
The remake and and going through that both of us kind of at the same time has been very satisfying after
that's thinking that like
the good parts of that movie
Really are the best parts of the of the game and and and there are so many
so many good portions and good aspects of the idea of Silent Hill that

(11:53):
Lends itself to a lot of interpretations as well much like a David Lynch or
Mahalan dry sort of thing, which I think makes the mystery that much sweeter
You've asked me and how's like the comparison between the remake and the original
but it's
Very interesting right because

(12:16):
The remake has
Modernized and expanded on puzzles that didn't exist in the first one
There was a lot less puzzling in the first one
And
What the remake has done in comparison to the original is in the original
It would give you things to pick up that would tell you about the story

(12:39):
But the new remake has expounded upon communicating this like the audio
You know, there's there's this whole town of Silent Hill that you learn about
through
Playing the games and
Fundamentally the the concept of Silent Hill is

(13:00):
There is
Two versions of it
And it oscillates between the two to communicate how
It's understandable and not far off for somebody to be driven to crazy lengths to
Reconcile their plight in life and like the things that have happened with them and

(13:27):
I love that that has maintained in that like that's
Why the original I think is so iconic is because video games didn't often tell stories about mental health and
Sloth and misery often and this video game not only told that through text but

(13:54):
Incorporated other aspects specifically to video games in order to be able to tell that story and this remake has done well to expound upon modern sensibilities and modern games and how we expect them to be and still and use those modern
Like gameplay mechanics or whatever to continue to tell a story of

(14:27):
Yeah, like
Misery and madness and all the dark sides of like the human psyche and how
And the surface will act this particular way, but underneath you could easily transition into this darker version of yourself in pursuit of your

(14:49):
Shortcomings your your fears and things like that. And
Yeah, I think the remake is great. I've been really enjoying it. I'm really enjoying it. I'm having a great time.
One thing I want to mention to the puzzling stuff to
That you mentioned, which I would like to explain to people here on the part of like a puzzle that is so

(15:16):
It's like
Great because it's complicated enough
And therefore when you figure it out, you feel such a great sense of accomplishment. Yeah, with it and
So just recently in order to get out of the hospital. There was a box that was connected to four different locks. Two of them were chains that go into

(15:43):
Places where you had to follow them and unlock the like disable the chain, essentially. And then there's two like actual locks like one one is like a stereotypical like locker lock where you have to like there's four numbers on it or whatever.
And then another one is like you have to press it and it has one through nine and you to solve one of them. You go to a place that is

(16:09):
A wing of the hospital that is that
Is telling you the person who used to exist there has had been there a while and there and they're talking to you as the player through
A piece of paper and note that they left and it just says like I was here for this long in, you know, and I just recognize this thing.

(16:34):
And then I was taking forcibly being taken this thing and all of those are quantities of something and then those quantities add up to the combination for the love that stuff. And you're just like quick little simple math like and then
Yeah, I mean,
Like, oh, I remember I do that.

(16:57):
Yeah, I mean, we're talking about a combination that's like
1622
It's just the matter of the secret of it. Yeah. It's the matter of the secret of it. And there's a room where, you know, you have to count.
How many dark time like
You have to count when a light flashes. How many time a light flashes and that's part of the combination.

(17:21):
And right. Yes. So cool. How do they do that? Of like, you know, I was scared of the darkness.
I'm stuck in this room. And then here's the paper that goes the combination is me counting the darkness taking these pills being in this prison for so long. And then you're like, wow. So through this whole story of somebody who existed in the space, I am now coming up with the combination of like 1922 and that is just

(17:53):
Awesome. Yeah, it's, it's
morose as well. It's very, very dark. But then it's interesting to have those satisfying elements attached to it when it's such a such a horror show to
Oh, absolutely. And like the sense of urgency is so nice. Like,
there's so many games where I'll be in a lot a lot of games will be like, we're going to put you in a lush landscape of an open world where

(18:20):
you know, birds are chirping and everything feels like alive and beautiful and then
you to give that same dedicated treatment to appear nightmare is a different appreciation that I've come to in some horror games.
Yeah, well, just like horror game horror movies as well like that. We've been into is to the dedication that it takes into constructing a nightmare is a is something that doesn't come naturally to me. I'm not sure if that'd be the first thing that I would

(18:52):
know. I don't know. I get the merit in it. Definitely. But like, yeah, just like, yeah, just just to
I recognize what you're saying. Yeah.
Yeah, totally. And so like running around and seeing how the puzzles how well the puzzles are thought out and how well constructed the world is, even though the world is in itself very rusty and dank and dirty and bloody horrific and bubbling and trash and beeping and stuff.

(19:14):
Yeah, the sound effects and everything is like just being here.
It's not enjoyable like in the sense that it's like, but then as you know, your role playing and as the character in the game as you're playing it's a role playing game. You're like, I need to get the fuck out of here.
You know, which is adds a real sense of humor to the game.
And playing this one and a few other horror ones like Resident Evil, like I said, or Dead Space was a big one for me. I just blew through that one. Once I finally blew through that one too.

(19:46):
It's not so long of a game, but it's just such like a tight experience and it feels cinematic in its way and truly terrifying where I almost feel like if you spend too long in there, you will get burnt out and you won't finish the story so quickly.
It's not so long of a game, but it's just such like a tight experience and it feels cinematic in its way and truly terrifying where I almost feel like if you spend too long in there, you will get burnt out and you won't finish the story.

(20:16):
So I think it behooves these kind of games to have like a somewhat tight play time, but it's also a real, real genre that I've come to appreciate later on. I'm not as much of a scaredy baby, but maybe, you know, I still have that side of myself too.
I still kind of like walking into those rooms in Silent Hill, man.

(20:38):
And then like just, yeah, because it's like the way the way something you have to like go, you have to touch the door.
There's not, there's plenty of action games where it's like you stand a little bit away from it and you press A or X or whatever.
And then you open the door with Silent Hill. You just like run into the door and then the door is going to open up with you entering into the room.

(21:03):
And it's just, it looks silly from a visual standpoint, but it really does.
It's the feel of it, which is really interesting because a part of the game too, which is really fun to see people talking on Reddit about the remake, because I was curious on the Silent Hill.
Because again, like we're talking about a remake of a legendary, like it's for people who aren't video gamers, like Silent Hill 2 is a monumental video game.

(21:33):
It defined a genre. It introduced concepts like we're talking about the new one, like iterating on, but like communicated dark, dark concepts of human psyche and existence into a video game, which is typically like, I mean, God, most people leave into the state.
And to this day, you think of video games as being like Mario and Minecraft and Fortnite and things like that, where it's always like action, colorful, you know, shooting and you know, whatever games and or platforming games.

(22:09):
And Silent Hill is all about like the journey into madness. Yeah, somebody could go down through extreme situations in their life and how they react to them and whatnot.
Because not only is it your main character going through, working through something as you start to realize through playing it, it's like working through something, you know, I mean, I guess you could surmise that from the get go, but it really starts to like make sense to you as the player and the viewer.

(22:44):
Everybody here is working through something. Yeah, that's that's everybody here has something, a secret.
There's something that they did. They have this guilt. They have this like, yeah, I don't know, a determination for reconciling something that they just haven't been able to reconcile in their own life.
And it's scary and unsettling. And video games typically aren't like that.

(23:10):
Even with Resident Evil, like they arguably were quick to abandon the psychological element of it and lean more into the action of it all. Yeah, for sure.
And Silent Hills, the franchise has never done that. There's definitely been varying degrees of like competency in making the game. But as a series, nonetheless, like it still remains a standard bearer of psychological horror video games.

(23:44):
And that's a really niche thing that I think at times has the potential just like with horror movies to broader films like, you know, horror and and yeah, just is important.
And I think that's something both of us have talked at length about coming to recognize more and more, especially through doing this podcast as we watch more and more horror movies is this like idea of at first being like, oh, the you know, I don't like being scared.

(24:16):
I don't see the merit of that. I also recognize that most of them are like cheaply made and don't have a lot of artistic integrity.
But then as we've just gotten more and more into the genre, it's like, but they're also telling great stories and they're also making unique stories on smaller budgets and they're getting greenlit more easily.

(24:37):
So they're able to there's just more of a larger plethora or a larger swath of ideas being allowed to be made and heard in that genre as opposed to a lot of other genres.
And I yeah, I've just come to love horror in the place that it holds in art.

(25:03):
Well said, man. Yeah, it's that.
That is so cool to think that it could open up other mediums of art as well, just that appreciation. And I think there is has always been a curiosity with like, yeah, the profoundly sad and sort of lonely sort of side of things and dark side of stuff and music and dramas and stuff like that.

(25:31):
But not only, yeah, and then not only finding the really dark, gritty horror stuff, but also the campy fun horror stuff as well.
And yeah, even all the all the stuff you're talking about with video game logic and what video games are usually really reminded me of the movie that we were going to talk about today.

(25:58):
When I was watching this movie, I was like, yeah, this is like an excellent video game plot as well.
Just if this exact plot was in the video game and each step along the way, you're like, oh, you got to go to the safe house, get your weapons, take a little tutorial, learn how to learn how to do your thing.
Like this is what this is. OK, and now this is in your hybrid. OK, let's move in on and doing a little checklist of the of what this the structure of this movie just felt so like vague and and video game logic is this sort of sort of ways of going about things.

(26:37):
I was going to ask you back. What are you watching as well, though, because I know you very politely asked me, but if there's anything else you want to highlight that you've been watching, because I love the whole side because I'm really, again, really glad that we revisited Silent Hill after talking about the movie in the past.
And now I'm much more familiar with it, which is cool. But yeah, anything else you'd want to you want to highlight that you've been watching?

(27:00):
I mean, nonetheless, yeah, but I'm glad that you are playing Silent Hill, too, because it's it's one of those things where it's like.
It's kind of hard now to recommend the original when the remake.
For better or for worse, I guess, I don't know if you want to be that critical about it.

(27:24):
Probably people out there. Yeah, you like.
Sure, it isn't as opaque, like I feel like a lot of the criticisms of it are like the original was very opaque.
And that adds to the mythos and adds to the lore of it. And this one's a little bit more like handholdy on stuff rails on the rails and shit like that.

(27:47):
But nonetheless, I'm so glad that you're playing it and also to the I mean, it's just been blast getting to like kind of kind of simultaneously together as friends discover Resident Evil, because like.
That's kind of a recent thing for me, too.
It's really crazy to think about how much video gaming I've done in my life.

(28:08):
But again, weirdly, with horror, just like with movies, like even with video games, I was like, No, I don't care about the horror, you know, video game genre.
And I adore adore as like video games that are required playing for anybody that is alive like Resident Evil is.

(28:30):
I'm trying to think of which one I would put. I'd probably put two like if I were to pick one to like.
Is my favorite and it's most representative of everything, but like nonetheless, this franchise.
It's just so wonderful because that is it's just so cool. The puzzling, the being scared, the adventure, the fear of being scared.

(28:54):
That is it's just so cool. The puzzling, the being scared, the adventure of it all.
And so to this movie, like.
All of this is existing in this, I guess, like all of this, this idea of sexy vampire shooting guns and creating a lore and mythos for these.
Yeah, it's like public domain ideas now. That's why the lake is.

(29:23):
I don't know. They're.
I guess I'm just saying that I recognize and appreciate that a movie like this exists, just like with Resident Evil, because the combination of gore or action storytelling by the lower is really.

(29:45):
I don't know. It's cool. It's fine. Yeah, like I dig it. I fucking dig it.
I want it's kind of weird to say this off the top because it kind of just overall sets the mood a little bit too much, but I can't help myself.
But saying like, I really, really enjoy the cold opening of this movie more than a majority of the movie beyond it.

(30:09):
OK. And the reason being is because not only does it have Bill Nye in it, which I'm just like, man, listen.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Really missing him.
This movie. Luckily, we get a little bit, but as opposed to Michael Sheen, but we get a little bit of nine at least.

(30:31):
Totally. And that's kind of my problem by and large, too. But not to get too far ahead of myself is like, I really dug the cold open of this movie because it's got Bill Nye like putting his whole body into it.
You're like talking with this like intensity with his mouth, then he's just moving around and he's just and it's wonderful.

(30:56):
I just I love it. And it got and it also reminded me of Resident Evil Village 2. Yeah, not two, but as well as well.
This like God, I love a resident village to well, I guess it's kind of what nine is going to be, I guess.
I would assume. I would assume. Continue. That's a whole conversation.

(31:20):
You didn't even say what you what you've been watching, but it's OK. We'll keep we'll keep moving.
No, I want to move on because I mean, the big thing that I was watching that that I expressed was I watched Mulholland Drive with my best friend.
Hell, yeah. I and I enjoyed it. That was a combo answer. I love it.
So, yeah, I've already we should get into the movie for sure, though.
I also I also dug this cold opening. Bill Nye is a big plus.

(31:46):
And then what he's wearing as well, all of their fucking dope as armor.
And it's like period piece and shit, you know, like what the next one's going to be.
The next one's going to be, I'm excited. What's that? The chain crossbows. Oh, where they have to shoot the chain crossbows into
Williams. Yeah, into William, the Lycan brother, and they have to keep the chain into him.

(32:11):
And then they wrap it around the tree and put the sword into it.
Yes, yes, yes. Into that a lot.
Yes. And you can see it's it's the one flashback in the movie that's not like, oh, it's all like blurry and shaky and everything.
And you can't tell what's happening. And it's like in very forcefully jammed in exposition through somebody's mind hole instead of just like showing it face value.

(32:39):
This is what happened. And you get some action off the start. And it's just classic vampires. The Lycans were wolves.
Classic vampires, V Lycans.
It's like we also we also we also got the text crawl. But yeah, I just what new information does that give us?

(33:03):
I'm trying to remember exactly the new information because there's a lot of repeated stuff, which isn't terrible.
It's also like, that's kind of nice, but also it's so like forcefully jammed in and it gets very annoying at one point.
But I'm trying to remember. Yeah. What if they give you any new information off the bat or if it's kind of like.
Yeah, no, no, I do. The cold open talks about how Corvinus, the older gentleman, gentleman, he's a famous British actor. I'm forgetting his name.

(33:36):
Derek Jacobi. Something.
Something. Yeah, yeah. He's the father. Yeah, he's in Gladiator.
Oh, that's what an uninitiated American like myself states. I'm just like, oh, gladiator.
The crawl is that Corvinus was the had two sons. One was bitten by a bat and one was bitten by.

(34:06):
OK, thank you. And they are the first of their kind, but he Corvinus is also a vampire because he's, you know, in this movie and still around.
And he's looked forever. I appreciate that. I'm sorry, folks, if it's going to be like, do you remember this or do you remember that?

(34:28):
But that is a big detail and also it's a big detail. One of my biggest questions of like the father, the father's deal.
Yeah, because the father's deal is totally what's his deal. It's mentioned in the first one, but.
Is a huge plot point in this one because right like.

(34:49):
But a big mystery for the first act to two, because there's just like such who is this guy? Why is he like so interested in all of all of these dealings?
And then they finally sit down and talk about it very late in the movie. And that mystery was one of my one of my issues.
I feel like we're like, do we really need to hide this? What is the reveal really serving that it would have been fine to just know this is the father and we can introduce him face value, give you that information and have these other mysteries at bay?

(35:23):
Because there's so much other convoluted kind of stuff and to convolute the reveal of somebody who's a main factor in this movie only to kill him off later, I thought was just a waste of time in that way.
But he performed it well and with a lot of subtext.
But I was just curious the whole the whole time because he had that.

(35:46):
I'm glad we're going into the Lord of him right now because we're going to do more. My big questions because like he has he has the ring and does that represent that like represents the humans that were supporting the vampire cause.
Correct. Yeah, because like the but he's not the first vampire. He's the father of the first vampire.

(36:08):
Correct. But he is a vampire himself. He's like an immortal. It's like this. It's like this idea of like his son got bit by a werewolf essentially.
But they talk about it a little bit in the first one and then they kind of this movie fails in a lot of ways.
But anyways, the like what they're in the intent that I got of it is is that he is the Corvinus is the first immortal.

(36:33):
You wouldn't call him a vampire necessarily. He's just a mortal and then his sons who are mortals got bit by a wolf and a bat which then bifurcated them into these two subsections.
Yeah, I like that. I like that. I like it.
I like it. So, you know, and that is slightly communicated in the first one because in my mind, unfortunately, there's this overarching subplot with Corbin with speed men where he is a descendant of Corvinus.

(37:16):
Right, which is why he was allowed to be both transformed into both because he had the Corvinus.
Got it. Got it. Got it. That helps me a lot. And that explains why they had such a broad scope even from the first movie because they had they kind of had this all locked in this.

(37:38):
I told these ideas and I love it. I love it for that. That's the thing I really love about these movies so far.
Totally. No, I have other stuff that's rough, very rough, but that idea is just fun and cool. And it's so awesome that in the sequel, it's like, oh, this information was laid out.
Yeah. Oh, for sure. Yeah, I know. Totally.

(37:59):
Even though they convoluted it was all hell, but you know, it's it's it's there. Well, they just don't lay it out for you and dealt in a delicate sort of fashion because the exposition dumps are real.
Yes. And so, OK, so after the cold open, so that establishes that there's two brothers, one is a Lycan and one is a bat. And the Lycan brother is I love that he's the white Lycan.

(38:31):
I feel like that's so if you're going to make like the original or the alpha of something, it should be like the big white one. Right.
And I know you're like an albino sort of like like, yeah, right. It's like, yeah, like an albino rhino or something like you're like, oh, this is the one that's like the big deal.

(38:52):
The effects on him in particular really worked for me. It's safe for like a couple shots here and there of the CG stuff.
The CG stuff is the problem. There's a plenty of sketch sketch stuff. Yeah. But like that final set piece with that albino like and that's some cool, cool looking shit.

(39:15):
You know what I'm talking about, bro?
Oh, drum. OK, so the white Lycan, William. So it is. Bill Nye's character.
So, OK, I'm going to really get into the lore of it because there's some kind of this this. Yeah. And we're doing a series, so you kind of have to. Right.

(39:37):
So the whole thing is like Corvinus is an immortal, so he's a bourgeoisie. He's a ruling class of society.
And so he is ultimately like Bill Nye's character is.
Is like the first generation vampire that is going to kind of wants to maintain the same power that the immortals have.

(40:05):
But his whole thing is is like in order to do that, we have to subjugate the Lycans.
We can't work together with them because they are uncontrollable if we give them leash to be, you know, pun intended.
I think. And so Bill Nye's character, Victor, was killed in the first one because of the realization by Celine,

(40:34):
Kate Beckinsale's character, that he. Doesn't necessarily want like he doesn't want Lycans to like have a place in this world or like have their own like, you know, kind of autonomy and whatever,
which was what Michael Sheen was fighting for in the first one is he's like, I'm sick of being a second class citizen to these vampires.

(41:00):
I want Lycans to rise up. We're actually more powerful. And that's the game he's playing with Kraven,
who is the current generation leader of the coven of Victor and Marcus and William.
And that is why a lot of this movie is or the first portion of this movie is just really lame in the sense that it's just why do we care about Kraven anymore?

(41:28):
And then who cares? Because he just dies immediately anyways. But they're still just you had to reconcile in the beginning of this movie of like Kraven was trying to work with Michael Sheen to overthrow Victor
because Victor's whole thing is that the Lycans are, you know, beasts and they should be subjugated and whatnot.

(41:49):
But I like that whole little coup that they were trying to set up in the first one. My only complaint was that it it should have been more amicable between them in a way rather than then like immediately they do dispatch each other.
Dispatch. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Which, you know, yeah, happens in this movie, too.
Like I'm the point that I'm making with Kraven is like he's immediately dispatched in this movie. Like there isn't any real shit that I'm surprised he came back for that.

(42:20):
I mean, the picture must have been pretty fucking nice. I love it. I don't know. Same with Bill Nye.
It's like, oh, man, you came back for these flashbacks and put on put on all that armor got on a horse. Good for you, dude.
Like we needed that. I don't like pretty game for shit. Makes me so happy.
I make me happy, too, because he's like British actors with such good acting chops, just like leaning into camp.

(42:44):
It makes me very happy. And he like elevates the material like just, you know, for what it's worth to do that.
And I think that's the thing about this movie. I think that's the thing about this movie. I think that the people that love movies recognize that immediately Bill Nye makes this movie better.

(43:08):
And when he's, you know, since his lack of involvement in the rest of this movie sucks, like I would like a lot more Bill Nye because I'm not really like Marcus is whatever.
I liked his his his abilities were defined and not overdone like where he could do anything like that.

(43:29):
You just immediately throw a new power out at you. He'd be like, oh, I can do this and this and also this and be like, well, why don't you do that first thing the whole time?
Because that first thing was overpowered and you can just do that. But he just had these like wings that would come out and then claw you and grab you and bring you in.
And then he could suck your blood for the truth and for your memories. And those were his powers.

(43:52):
And I have some qualms with the blood memory stuff, of course, but I like that they found creative ways to continue to use the hooks that he had.
Oh, for sure.
And yeah, like the it was it was interesting because I liked it, but I also really liked him as an actor. So it was an interesting back and forth where like a lot of his transformed form at the beginning and then like in the middle he was he got the opportunity to sit.

(44:23):
And that's when I liked it more.
It like made it even better when he came full fucking Hulk mode and I'm coming back to lift this stone door instead of swimming underneath. Right. He's just totally just bad. If he was strong enough, he wouldn't need the space.
He could just like lift it straight from the ground. The fact that they put it under the rock under the rock. I was like, oh, he's going to swim underneath.

(44:46):
I was like, no, I just need a little bit of ledge to put my fingers underneath. It's like, dude, if you're that strong, you can lift it just from, you know, you probably blast through that shit.
Just blast through it.
No, I did. There's something that is so charming about these effects where like I get every now and then I get real. I'm like, okay, you're going a little too much every now and then. But for the most part, it makes me so happy to see the combination of practical and like some shitty CG.

(45:21):
But there is still some practical to substitute to the practical concepts and everything. And the concepts are pretty cool. And there are set pieces that facilitate the goofy stuff that happens.
But I'm giving a little ahead of myself.
It's like, but it's just, it's, it's such a great homage to classic filmmaking where there it's almost like you're on a like a ride at an amusement park. Sure. And this movie at times where a, a like, a lichen will get wheeled out.

(45:53):
And then it's just like flashing lights and cobwebs. And then you're just like, oh, it's a lichen, you know, and it's like a real fucking thing that people are reacting to. It reminds me like the like the mummy in like Van Helsing movie. I forget the guy who does those movies.
Yeah. Just, when she's like realizing all the guys are turning into lichens, ah, it's such a fun, like that's like a haunted house sort of thing. Like, oh, this guy's trapped in the net and he's like trying to get out.

(46:23):
Getting ahead of myself because I really like that final set piece in the castle, I guess. But we shouldn't, we shouldn't go back because you were playing down some real good ideas about the lore.
And at least this first section, we'll get through them going to the safe house. They reload. Oh, I do. I do like some of like, you know, the equipment that these guys use is always cool to see like a restock and everything.

(46:48):
But you had so, so this beginning, it just is just kind of like set up and like the whole craven getting dispatched so early with a head explosion was setting the stage for everything in a big way.
The head explosion is pretty cool. Cool. And I do like how it just picks up immediately after the first one. Just to set that too. It's a real quantum of silache.

(47:15):
Yeah. It should. But then it gets into the problem. I think really I have the largest problem I have with this movie, which is the love story between the two main actors. It sucks to me.
It's really shitty because like there is zero time spent on reconciling any type of life or or past life of Michael Corbin.

(47:45):
He is just the most generic milk toasty guy that I don't even really feel that much chemistry between like Keith Beckinsale is bringing 80% to that relationship and the like sexual like the sexuality of it in my mind.
Like Michael Corbin is just like there and I really have had such a hard time like caring at all about what's going on with him.

(48:17):
And I think that's really no continue. It came to a head for me where this idea of her story gets back story.

(48:38):
And it makes me care more about her intentions. But none of that are in the need for a relationship with him. And the fact that this movie has so much of like her needing to be okay with him to just love him for who he is.
This is sucks. Like I don't know. There's nothing there's nothing that like them getting together, I guess does nothing to the story and for me.

(49:08):
Like there's not a whole like I'm so glad they're together now feeling you know like wow I you know it's the changing of the guard it's the new era like they're together now and they've you know fought all odds to get here like there's none of that with them.
It is so

(49:31):
like you know this movie starts from right like you said, which I enjoy that picks up right where we left off, even though it in a movie that's the second, it has to recap after that I know dude that's a whole nother issue.
It's mad but like it's like go back here like we before we get to the flashback thing like the whole issue about Scott speedman I just wanted to chime in on as well because I feel like it extenuates one of my bigger issues with this movie as well, is I know that we're not

(50:03):
talking about the ones of his, his acting and his performance which you know is its own separate issue on top of everything, but in for somebody who watched the first one recently hasn't seen this one has only seen rise of the Likens which is my first movie of the
old franchise. I mean, isn't it funny though I'm on a chronological stretch right now Brandon isn't that great I'm going chronologically I'm a true, true fan.

(50:35):
Before you even know it.
The big okay so the big cliffhangers at the end of the first one were, you got a fucking hybrid. That's huge, and then you get you get the blood going into fucking Marcus right yes Marcus going in like you know that Marcus is going to come alive, or the
vampires. I am. There is not enough hybrid stuff in this fucking underworld evolution movie. It blew my mind how it's like not really getting into the idea of a vampire werewolf fucking hybrid.

(51:11):
I mean, I've got nearly enough shit going on there if anything like, it's really got to dig into his whole deal. And like, I feel like there's way too much time even given to like Marcus like you know he's a big bad.
He's coming, you know you can like sprinkle and little things, but like they really like give him all the space, and then, you know, add all this other backstory to Derek Jacobi, which I like, I don't know if that's necessary at this time in the movie is that

(51:43):
like this time in the series to have a care like there's so much of his care Derek and I love his performance Corvinus Corvinus Corvinus whatever. Like, it's constantly going to him like oh he knows all this is happening.
You would see everything happen to be like oh he also knows this is happening. We don't know who he is, and the fact that he knows it doesn't mean a lot to us.

(52:05):
And so, why don't we just really face head on the fact that there's a hybrid fucking vampire werewolf and the biggest thing that happens is that he goes eat some potatoes and gets really sick gives us the idea that there were probably somewhere in Transylvania or something.
And, and then he realizes he needs the that meets back on the menu and he needs man flesh baby but like, I just man flesh.

(52:38):
And I just I just kind of blew my mind through this experience where I did not hate this movie, but I was really bummed or like just annoyed of like that's such like, it almost seemed like they were so excited and preoccupied with the fact that they had a sequel,
that they could explore these other elements that they've always wanted to do that they didn't get to do in the first one that they knew they had waiting on deck that they just sprinkled in like surface like level, all of the things that they've always wanted to do rather than

(53:12):
like, pick one or a couple and get into those. And it was a hitch on the pacing and on the entire like lore experience as well and it catered more towards having big exposition dumps and having mysteries that didn't need to be mysteries as much.

(53:36):
But the what was the biggest payoff of him being a hybrid in this movie, he tears off fucking jaws, you get a you get Chekhov's jaw rip edge, and then he pays you off at the end.
Yeah, you're so right, like the only payout for him being a hybrid is that he's able to physically handle Williams, who we've been communicated through the tank crossbow cold open that he's a very strong monster.

(54:08):
So like, the only true payoff for court and Corbin being a hybrid is he has the physical prowess to be able to fight William, and he does that sure that's true.
But that's not interesting enough. Yeah, like, yeah, this movie would be, it's so funny because I have a couple podcasts that movie podcast I listened to have just expressed that it's like a taboo to

(54:41):
talk about how movies should have done something different.
But I'm going to continue to do that on this, I'm just saying like to your point, like, what is interesting about Corbin is that he is the next iteration of a legacy that has been corrupted by power that has made poor choices in its pursuit of power,

(55:06):
and he represents the new generation that is going to combine forces to like to, and even so much in the movie it kind of gets into this a little bit of like the sins of our father, right.
Yeah, like our ancestors have made these sins and maybe have done things wrong. And we're not going to take it anymore we're going to, you know, take them down we're going to restructure things so that it is.

(55:36):
We are, you know, like Corbin as being a hybrid is the epitome of this war ending and becoming something different right.
And none of that is in this movie. No.
It's like zero of that ideas in this movie, because the victim the majority of the time.

(56:03):
Sure, and we're all a victim of the sins of our father and the wars of futures of the future staff that's all different.
The wars of the past like I just would have been a place to play Kate not to permanently do that but play Kate Kate Beckinsale just for one movie and have him really rise into his hybrid, you know, maybe this is him.

(56:26):
Yeah, she's got to teach him is more of it what it's about sorry and interjected.
No, no, no, you're no but you're right on the money on that as well of like, she should be the vehicle because the movie is at its strongest to when it is talking about how her family and her existence has been the result of this chess game that these, you know, powers

(56:58):
that are B have been playing, and she is evolving and rising above and going like, fuck Marcus fuck William fuck Victor, like all of these people have killed people are not good, you know, they're just their intentions aren't about the necessarily the

(57:20):
just preservation of life. Therefore the very cynical and very self interested presentation, like preservation of this group, not of life in general of their people in general, really just about preservation of themselves and
Kate Beckinsale is a byproduct of that being like, you know, her, the, the bourgeoisie vampires hired her dad to build a crypt and a mechanism to keep William alive, but not able to escape and go out in the world.

(58:01):
And once that was done, Victor, you know, essentially had her family killed. And now she has been living this life in service of Victor, because she was told that the light guns are the problem the light guns are the reason that her family doesn't exist
anymore. But then we find out an evolution that know her family was killed by craving, and her family was killed because the vampires didn't want anybody else to know where William was, or because if people knew where William was then he would escape, and then

(58:40):
turn people into like ends. And then the like ends are realistically the only power at be that could overthrow the vampires. And I love all that I just yeah I'm just wondering if there was a yeah a place in mind to think that they would have other movies or other times to tell that story and then tell the

(59:02):
hybrid story as well because I feel like this would have been the time to, but I don't know I don't know how you how you and yeah and that's where like the taboo of structuring in your own way and making the movie that you want to see in your own mind doesn't fully pan out.
But yeah I love Kate Beckinsale's sort of backstory and the fact that when she gets that little talisman that she knows where it goes to and that she she knows what her father's design was, but that was like hastened and very rushed into the into the end of it.

(59:36):
I feel like yeah, absolutely. No totally because the movie was more interested in the combat that was happening in the present day situation.
Because if anything my overall feeling about this movie was the definitely heightened the the action. The action got bigger in this movie that's for danger. Yeah, there's like shit blowing up and like all of these places that have like fights and stuff and a lot of guns and shit.

(01:00:06):
The action got ratcheted up as well. Yeah, they so they go to the safe house and then they go to the I mean I feel like it's pretty close after they go to the place where he gets some potatoes and some some meat that meanwhile, while that's happening is Corvinus is sending his team out to collect the from Victor's body

(01:00:34):
in his chest. Yes, which I was, which I thought was very funny. This idea that at some point, I want to see that process. Yeah. Yeah. Well, God, and we did have some of that in this movie, let last the CGI inner body stuff that was in the first one. Do you remember that? Yeah.
It's in this a little bit this idea of like, the camera goes inside the muscles and yeah, it was unintelligible what some of that was it was like, Oh, look what's happening. I'm like, I can't tell what that means. What are you trying to show me? It just looks like microscopic image that I wouldn't know if you zoom down until you zoom down.

(01:01:16):
Yeah, like we're so while that's happening because yes, Celine is on the run because Marcus is hunting her down because her blood has the memories of where the location of Williams coffin is and so Marcus now alive because of the blood of who died in that room.

(01:01:37):
Somebody died in the room where, you know, in the first movie we got that great. Yeah, I forget what that is.
Yeah, there's like, yeah, the the heads of the vampire.
Coven are in.
Tooms that have little initials on them.

(01:02:00):
You gotta twist them to get into their little little capsule.
And then turns out he's burrowed underneath the ground and he's going to pop up from underneath the blood. We're still in the first scene. I love this.
The blood is something a battle happened in the first movie the blood, because that's where we left off in the end of the first movie. Yeah, right off right at the end. Yeah.

(01:02:21):
Dripping down into Marcus's coffin and then some Marcus is alive. Marcus is the first vampire. So a lot of that kind of lore stuff gets a little bit convoluted where like.
Marcus is controlled by Victor, but he's also the like original vampire.

(01:02:44):
He's the original vampire and he's yeah and he's the son of the mortal and the mortal Derek Jacobi the Corvinius and the brother of the first Lycan. It's all very mythological and how they present it.
And I like that he wants to release his brother from prison, but that goal is not set is not made aware to the audience until later, which I find that mystery.

(01:03:15):
Confusing why we need to have that hidden at any point.
Because this is the portion like, yeah, we should probably move a little bit, but like the portion at the beginning here, like I am wondering what everyone is trying to do here.
Like what are we trying to accomplish? Like what are we where are we trying to go? Because it's really just like that. I get that like Scott, Sweden, Kate Beckinsale.

(01:03:38):
Like it were right after what just happened. You just killed the leader of the vampires like you just got to fucking go. And then like there's people that are chasing them like I kind of like I get that.
But also like.
And I Marcus is trying to get them, but there's not a clear goal in mind with him of just like what his allegiance is off the bat.

(01:04:00):
I just wish they would hasten that a bit of just I want to release my brother. I wanted that information quicker. Like I just don't understand why like they feel like they need to be withholding on some of this stuff.
Like there can be good versions of divvying out the information slowly that the reveals mean something, but I just wanted his wants and what he was trying to do with the whole aim of his of his goals a little clear more quickly because he was just seemed like chaos.

(01:04:33):
He was just like going after them. And then when he finally gets me starts trying to get Kate Beckinsale's memory blood and gets relinquished. But I think this would be a good time. What do you think of the memory blood?
Yeah, not a fan. It's not a great plot device. It's not a it's not a very good plot device to try to divvy out information is have the villain just be able to vaguely and inextricably just suck out the important information from somebody in a physical way.

(01:05:12):
Like it's already one thing of like having I don't know you can have like a lie detector or something like that. And that's already a little bit you know have you have to get that whole see I'm gonna sit somebody down in the lie detector and get all the information out of them and then that's going to solve all my issues.
It's like it just even skips that step. And it's a it's a funny little physical internal expression of divvying out information that hinges this whole movie like that's what he does.

(01:05:44):
And that's his main way of furthering his plot which isn't made clear until exposition man Tannis comes around. And that's when you reach the person who has the most information in the whole movie and his blood is definitely the most important because you can suck all of it out and get everything because he's got all those books that are in his brain in that blood and that sweet sweet memory blood juice.

(01:06:12):
I mean but the problem would be is that he might have syphilis or something because his exile is very cool. Oh yeah. That was like the stuff I was looking for in the first one I'm like man this looks like this whole mansion of vampires they must just have like the room where you yeah where you just say Fidelio and you put on a mask and Tom Cruise is there and it's in for you with a sexy vampire.

(01:06:37):
Yeah, I'm sure Tom Cruise has memory blood.
I mean by the logic of this movie I guess we all do.
Yeah, which is but then like I guess that's just some that's one of his powers that's the thing where I guess where I'm like arguing against myself where now I mean it's it is just a couple of hours it's it's wings that are hooks and it's truth blood and and that's it but that's just that's such a big power.

(01:07:03):
It was also part of the first one.
Have memory blood. Yep. I don't I guess, but they just, I guess they just hinge a lot on on this movie for that mechanic.
Yeah, this movie in particular. So in the first one, there's a lot of the memory blood because Victor drinks is given blood by somebody then understands those memories and then then seeks out somebody else and gets their memories through their blood. So it exists in the first one but you're right about how this movie plot wise hinges so much on the memory blood because the plot of this is we need to find where Williams tomb is.

(01:07:44):
And in order to do that we need to suck out the blood of certain individuals who were responsible for the imprisonment of William.
And that's where the true MacGuffin of it all comes into light way too late into the movie in my opinion where you feel like there is a MacGuffin at the middle of this that isn't made clear and you're not really sure why well there's all these parties that are just like circling each other but there's no central object or thing that they're all trying to get to or have the structure of the movie own itself to and that MacGuffin is Kate Beckinsale's memory blood.

(01:08:21):
Yeah, I mean again to your original point about the idea of memory blood I just don't care for because I've been just burned by it with a bond franchise is the idea that your blood I was thinking the same thing.
Yeah, it can hold this information and it just seems so stupid to me that like, yeah, people's blood is the capability of doing that as a plot device for an action movie but yeah like again what do you think would happen if a vampire sucked out the nano blood.

(01:08:50):
Oh my god just like how much information would you have so much information.
Right, maybe the memories would just be coming in a little more clear.
Oh yeah, like perfect 1080 4k 4k 4k memories if you get those memories.
Oh god. Well yeah yeah I feel like we're barreling through this I know there's like the truck chase scene that was like all shot and like, boy.

(01:09:19):
Yeah, everything is just so fucking blue at points where is is kind of a bummer.
And then like you get the reveal of who Derek Jacob II is. That's a pretty big scene but I feel like I'm just like barreling towards the final set piece that was that was just my favorite.

(01:09:42):
Yeah, there's got to be a lot before that but I'm, is there anything that you would like to mention.
It's tough. It's tough to like dig too much into the specifics.
The corvinius plotline.
Because yeah again like that's yeah overall like the corvinius plotline is a big part of this movie, because there's this whole thing about, again, the sins of our father, where the sons of Lycans and vampires came from that guy who now is in the second movie because

(01:10:22):
it's about a brother trying to free, you know, his brother.
But again we've already talked about how it's this.
This movie really fails in, in its ability to better communicate the relationship that the sons had with their father previously. And so then there, you know you go to his like yacht.

(01:10:52):
And he has a yacht that's this whole like Jeff Bezos style super yacht that's got like a helicopter landing pad that is like special task force team.
Like a statue figure in that control room and everything it's, yeah, as a control room, all of this stuff about, like, yeah, because that's kind of like Illuminati I feel like or something like that.

(01:11:19):
This movie thinks it's smarter than it really is and that is one thing I'm sure if you were to ask the director, like what the intention was that is that you know, oh, vampires could, mortals could actually be kind of real and this is what they look like.
They're super wealthy individuals on a yacht, yada yada yada.

(01:11:44):
Yada yada yada.
But again, like, all that is happening with Corvinus is he is looking for the key to the key to the other MacGuffin I guess is the key.
The key because we have the first portion of it because it's two pieces. It's one of those situations just like with a Silent Hill or Resident Evil. So you got to find pieces of a key and put it together in order to open the box.

(01:12:14):
Or Mission Impossible, Dead Reckoning or is it Dead Reckoning? Yeah.
Yeah, Dead Reckoning 2, the two keys. Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.
The second one's coming out soon.
That's gonna be lit. That's gonna be the Tom Cruise one too.
I believe it. Is that what they're, is that what's lined up? Yeah, they said it's much.

(01:12:36):
They've had so many people on the team. I mean, yeah, he fits somebody. Oh, for sure. Yeah.
Tom Cruise said that he would like Glenn Powell to take over the, take the lead.
Oh, I can see that.
Yeah, me too.
But yeah, like instead of spending time either with how the ruling class that is Corvinius truly affected the working class that was Celine's family or the backstory with actual moments of emotionality between Corvinius and his sons prior to them getting bitten is missing from this movie.

(01:13:20):
So all Corvinius is function as in the plot of this movie is the guy who got one of the pieces together and then made the sons that are the villains.
And it just operates on a simple base level of that. He occupies a lot of screen time though too. Yeah.
Because he's like a legendary British actor. Yeah, for sure. But the character itself, you know, I like, I like his performance.

(01:13:47):
Yeah, no, totally. Like he's, yeah, his performance is fine, especially because he is given some neat a little bit to have that moment where he's like, what would you do? I love my sons. I don't want them to be heard.
You know, I tried to protect them. And that's why, you know, I allowed these, you know, atrocities to happen because like, would you kill your kid? I mean, you know, that kind of stuff. And it's just, it's so fucking.

(01:14:14):
Yeah, but Brandon, you're going to be drowning in lichens. If you do this, you're going to be fucking drowning in lichens. You idiot.
It's this movie.
Because that's his whole thing, right? Like he agrees. So like putting William away, right? Isn't that the whole idea?

(01:14:36):
He puts it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because putting him away doesn't mean his death.
Right. That's the whole thing is like, they're not killing William. They're just keeping him alive.
And, you know, the father had to choose between the two and he chose many.
Then he gets fucking patricide. Instead of him getting killed.

(01:15:06):
Like over it. I'm like, God damn it movie.
No, I like this is it's it's another thing to regurgitate and recycle it all in our brain and relay it in in the plot way to everybody. But it's so funny that there is so much that we're talking about. There is so much that we're relaying. Yeah, there is more that I want.

(01:15:27):
And I think that like is a good thing and it's in its own way. And there's definitely like big fat problems with this movie. And especially when like the main character, arguably, I don't know. I get it is Kate Beckinsale. But like there's a world where it should be.
Scott Speedman. I don't want it to be. I think Kate Beckinsale's onscreen presence is undeniable. And you have to accept that. I'm watching. No, she's going to drive the franchise, which she does. But she looks like a marble statue.

(01:15:55):
God, and the blue eyes look so cute. She looks like if the statue of Nike had a head. That's what she should look like.
Those shoes that she's there's like a close up of like her shoes that she's jumping around. I was like, how is she doing that? That's amazing.
Oh, boy. Yeah, there was no time for her to relax in this. Oh, wait. No, there is. They have a they have a lovemaking scene. But then she's just like she they got a barrel through with the truck and she gets burned a little bit.

(01:16:25):
It's kind of like the mummy return situation where you got to outrun the sun and get into a dark space and then he just starts pouring paint on the window.
That was a really funny scene. I'm not always paper. Fuck the paint brush. I'm going to take 10 cans of paint and just throw it.

(01:16:46):
Wow. It's so light in here. I'm just a big ball of emotion.
And then like when he's done, it just goes cuts back away. And all of a sudden, every little inch of the fucking torn apart warehouse is fully enclosed.
Those kind of things are just oh, there's tons of stuff with him that are so funny. Like the idea.

(01:17:09):
So thematically, the idea that's happening in this movie is Scott Speedman is still not on board with the idea of drinking blood as food.
So he now not having Celine there to like force him to do it.
He's like, I'm not going to drink this bag of blood that I've been left with while she's going off and doing stuff. I'm going to go to the local bar or whatever and eat food and Transylvania and puberty.

(01:17:44):
But to me, it's just so stupid that after everything that happened in the first movie, he's not on board with what's going on because like that's something that would happen when he was like transforming in the first one, for example, right?
I like this idea of him transitioning into like or accepting who he is now in this new form.
When the second movie and we're having this whole scene of him being like, I don't want to drink blood. I want to eat potato soup. And then he goes out and then he eats it.

(01:18:15):
And then he's like, oh, now I'm sick. And then he just like, it's and then like Corvinius is on the Jason Bourne control room where he's listening into every single radio conversation all over the world somehow to know exactly where.
Right. Because he's been around since time and then, yeah, it's like it's all of that stuff is really silly and doesn't work enough in this movie where I think the first movie benefits from not getting into certain specifics.

(01:18:45):
And even though it does to a degree, like we I think we are, you know, talk plenty about how like some of the stuff is still stupid and silly in the first one. But this one like digs into the lore, which is a benefit.
But then it also like shoots itself in the foot because then you're like, well, you presented these ideas and now you have no interest in following up on them or digging, you know, like really showing them on screen and caring about them.

(01:19:14):
You just like it's kind of like a second movie problem where.
It's made more so for money than it is for.
Like maintaining the world's integrity that is built up in the first one. And then it falls so flat because it doesn't know what to do fully with the things that it posited.

(01:19:44):
It's like attempts to to to expand upon concepts of the world building that it had in the first one, but then doesn't do it well in certain situations. But yeah, I mean.
At the same time, like I did have I did enjoy this movie. I don't know. Yeah, closer to the end, like and we're going to continue to watch these and I'm like excited to watch more of these. Honestly, it's weird.

(01:20:14):
Like it's weird how that works for me, where I'm trying to reconcile like there's a lot of this movie that's not good. Yeah. But then just like I probably communicated clearly on this pod recording already is like, but then I this lore and like where people are and you know what they mean and all that stuff.

(01:20:37):
Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, I'm engaging with it. Like I feel like it's more the side of things that it's like frustrating to be you catch your I catch myself like spending time within the movie on certain aspects or certain action scenes.
And I'm like, man, there's so much cool stuff just lying on under the surface of what you guys are doing that I just am craving more of. Yeah, I'm craving the vampire ring more of really those elements and done in like a meaty sort of way that isn't just like feels like it's just passing right by it and doing it just as quickly as it can before it moves on to the next action scene.

(01:21:21):
Yeah. But at the same time, yeah, it's like, it's, it's fun to think about it and it has me questioning the lore, which is has a lot going for it rather than me just like blowing it off and being like, this is stupid.
It's, it's got some weird to it that it doesn't. It's got what it's got some juice. It's got some juice. Yeah. And then I, I mean, I feel like we'll get to this this final action scene.

(01:21:50):
I just wanted to, I'm gonna spend like a moment on of like how cool it was to have the have Marcus bring down the helicopter into the middle of the castle.
Yeah.
And have the blade still going the whole time.
That was the coolest.

(01:22:11):
Coolest. I love that.
Oh my God. And it's like this big well cavernous area, and they were like shooting from the helicopter into the hole. And then there's these multiple levels and then core Corbin and William are fighting on the bottom level.
And then Marcus and Celine are fighting on the top level. And then there's like, I don't know, I was so interested. Like, this is the stuff. Oh man.

(01:22:41):
It really again, I don't think I can reiterate enough that here in 2024 as a movie fan watching movies that came out 20 years before whatever the physical set design stuff.
Yeah.
Rips. Yeah, dude.
It rips and yeah, just have a place that's all CGI green screen. It is going to look like shit and no one is going to care about it in 20 years.

(01:23:13):
It's not going to happen for a movie like Underworld Evolution, which like we've talked at this point to some maybe an agnostic, but like the adventure roller coaster, horror, like house, big action stuff that is all like a car driving on a road and a thing blowing up in a town with

(01:23:40):
fire on their roofs and these lichens that pop out of caves and scare people and the scene of them fighting on this bridge that has a helicopter in it and stuff is it's cool. It's cool. I enjoy it.
Big set pieces. Yeah, man. And big sets and then that helicopter comes down. It's still spinning and then it just stays there. And then you have the rest of the action take place where you know that the blade that's still spinning is going to take part in some way.

(01:24:13):
You get off the first you get the jaw. Rippage and then you get his hand getting cut off by the blade.
He stabs her with the wing blade. She pulls. She cuts it off, pulls the wing blade out and just bam through the skull pushes them to like, oh man, I sound like Spartan kicks them in like an eight year old kid act describing like yeah, and then he throws it in the helicopter blade and fucking just gets to see the great.

(01:24:43):
It's so cool. But that final shot of like the looking at all of the carnage and looking at the helicopter in the middle and Cape against the own Scott Speedman standing there.
This looks so cool like to know this is a set that they are all standing in right now. And it just looks like I could see a stunt spectacular take place right there I could walk through a haunted house or something and and see the lichens pop out and see the helicopter and

(01:25:11):
I'm just saying it like I just there's something that's doesn't matter at that point whatever has led me to here is is all good and just so happens that I do kind of care about these characters and I'm kind of interested in what's going on with them to a fault because
the movie, unfortunately doesn't give me everything I want, but it like, I don't know. It does at least the bare minimum in this kind of wackadoo sort of sort of plot that it's it's putting out.

(01:25:44):
And that's, that's something that I will take home.
Hard agree man.
It's weird, especially with this movie in particular more so than the first one this idea of like, am I giving this movie too much credit, am I like,

(01:26:12):
drinking the Kool-Aid on this movie, because yeah, I can't yeah, it's presenting me with plenty to go like, you don't care about these things, why should I or diverging from

(01:26:34):
something interesting that is to something just to be exciting or, you know, whatever. And yeah, I don't know I don't I honestly man I'm, I feel like that's the thing I'm going to work through with this series.
Why is it I don't know. Yeah, maybe maybe we should start having this towards the end of each of our discussions here on out is like, yeah, I don't know this idea of why, why is this hitting so well for such an arguably stupid movie that I think

(01:27:14):
we're going to be with our age I'm sure like growing up at this time. Yeah, like in other cases I feel like I wouldn't be so forgiving or whatever to this but yeah these movies yeah it's hard not to just be like, I love when a Lycan jumps on the side of a car and pushes it over.

(01:27:36):
It's looking vampires versus werewolf versus likens like I don't know like, what do you think about it at the at its core essence of what it's trying to be. It succeeds on that. And then it has all this other fucking Lord on top of it that like, how am I like, how am I that invested in this I agree like I'm questioning myself as well.

(01:27:58):
It's it's not done necessarily well and it doesn't hold up all, all together. But I just love to that yeah there's a guy in a vampire outfit, a Lycan rubber outfit that's just like, and then keep back in sale looks like she's facing down a true demon of the night.

(01:28:22):
Which she is so much conviction as an actor and then she fucking dual wields and just like, ba ba ba ba ba. And then like reloads and five different cool.
Like points to things with her gun to there's this moment in the movie where the guy who's on in exile is like showing them a book. Yeah, and she likes it from turning the page with her gun. And I was like, Oh, yeah, do you think that's actually reads a book she like has her gun out and she like licks the tip of the gun.

(01:28:57):
She just turns it. I love it. She turns the page on its own.
Yeah.
The exposition dump guy was not my favorite because I just wanted it. I wanted to like sprinkle a little bit more. I just wanted to be Paul Bentley so bad. Oh, or Paul Bentley. The guy from night sale. Is that what I'm thinking of. Yeah. Oh yeah.

(01:29:29):
Paul Bentley. Yeah, sorry. Yes. That's a great choice. Absolutely. I want to pull that either. Just like, yeah, I was just like, Oh, this is where we're going to get the lower. It's like, I don't. Yeah, I just wanted more lower, more lower throughout.
Instead of just like, okay, now we're really going to reveal everything to you here. It's exciting because our next movie is a war movie. Essentially, that's the thing is like, I did not hate this movie. Like I hadn't when I remember seeing and we'll talk about it next time.

(01:30:03):
I remember seeing that movie and having a good time in theaters and not knowing jack shit about, you know, anything else besides just like, dude, it's vampires. Werewolves like fucking cares. Like, yeah, we get Michael Sheen and Bill Nye back next time.
That's what I'm so excited.
Yeah, because I think by and large a big negative for me on this movie is that we didn't get these great, great character actors in this movie. We got and it's all in medieval times kind of. It's so cool. That sounds so cool. Okay.

(01:30:35):
Castles and shit. You get to go back to that castle when it's fully constructed. Yeah, because like, yeah, the construction. Yeah. Okay. Well, I'll look through my notes here before we go on to final reviews and thoughts.
Lots of face eating in the cold open. Remember that there's a lot of faces getting eaten.

(01:30:57):
I wrote like, because they're powerless without their heads. Yeah, just rip that job. Oh, there's a lot of head stuff. There's a lot of head stuff in this movie. There's a lot of just like, you just got to rip their heads off. Like, you can't come back from that.
I love like silver bullets like UV bullet. Who gives a shit? Like just rip their heads off. They have to come up with all this technology and said, I'm just like, you know, if you sever their heads from their bodies,

(01:31:34):
like chainsaw blades, shoot out or a gun, sever their just humans are not too dissimilar. If you just completely remove their heads, they die.
That is not Michael Sheen is what I put because in the in the morgue of his, of his yacht, he's got a morgue in his yacht. You just see the chest of this of what's supposed to be Michael Sheen, and they shoot him from the top of the head down. And it's not it's not him.

(01:32:04):
He did not. He did not decide to come back for a day of dead body. And he just appears on flashbacks. No, no new stuff. But yeah, really missing him. I love when Marcus wakes back up as his full vampire self.
He starts like looking at the computers and he starts typing with his long nails. I was like, when did he go to sleep? Like, I guess, like the computers are all put in. He's like, okay, cool. Computers are all good. I T guys all set. All right. I'm going to go down there into my Marcus shaped.

(01:32:38):
I go to sleep.
He just knows computers after so long. That's part of your blood. That's what I would like to believe. He tasted Craven's blood. He's like, I know. I know kung fu.
He just pops on Twitter. I want that movie where like vampires is going around sucking the blood of people that he wants their talents and skills and memories. I love that idea. God, let's write a fucking TV show for that.

(01:33:12):
I got exile looks like fun. I said that on the beat. He's like, wow. So you get to just not work and fuck kicks and do whatever you want to do. As long as it's in this giant house.
I guess people have been coming after him because he's got this all this this guard rail set up and everything.

(01:33:34):
Likens that was like, yeah, he's got like insecurity and yeah, we're given to him there and she asked him, slainess. I'm she's like, or somebody asked him. He's like, well, how'd you get the Liken guards in there? Like you, they were given to me.
Because that's the intro into Likens as slaves. Right. And yeah. Why was he in? We're so far into this. That's a very vague thing to where it's like, I was the one who put him there. Then you find out later it was actually, I mean, it was like Victor and her, I guess.

(01:34:05):
But it was kind of vague. Yeah. I just don't remember. I don't know. Straight up. Don't remember. There's so much. Yeah. So Jackie, brain jacket. It gives the ship. I have notes like not a fan of flashbacks to explain minor detail.
Dude, there I mean, there would be flashbacks to what literally just fucking happened. Like that was mine. It was like there's flashback to what just happened. Question mark. Exclamation point. Like there'd be a scene and it'd be like, yeah, remember that just happened a second ago. Like crazy. Like, yeah, no, I know. I was here.

(01:34:41):
I was watching the movie.
I've been here this whole time. I know Marcus is realizing that, but I've known this whole time or like, yeah, even like when she would be walking through the castle off the end and being like, yes, I remember this. Oh yes. I remember that. It's like you could show her face and she's such a good actor that you would understand just in her facial facial expression that she's like, I, I've known this place before. I recognize it. But no, it's like,

(01:35:06):
but shaking you being like she remembers it from the specific time.
She drew that. She drew that mural as a child.
Oh my God. Yeah. That was my other note. This whole castle is disintegrating into water into the earth and what remains is a child's drawing just above the water's edge. It's perfectly intact. It looks like.

(01:35:39):
And that was in a situation where I was like, wow, this would be a great opportunity to have the cross section of like, what is she seeing is what's real or a memory where it's like she can see the drawing, but the other guys can't. I thought that's what they were going to do. That would have been real smart.
Been like, oh, I remember seeing this drawing because I drew it and then they're like, what are you looking at? And then it goes to their purview and it's not there. Right. Right. Yeah. And then it's just like, they're just like, yeah, that's weird that there's a kid's drawing right there. Isn't that funny?

(01:36:14):
Also, you're already in the underground palace. Like, of course you're already in the right area. You don't need the child's drawing to know that. No, this is the right place. She's had like five other flashbacks getting up to this point and it's like, oh, yeah.
Can you say what will I become after this line? Yeah. Quickly. Now, before there is no legacy left in my veins.

(01:36:43):
Before I will come.
The future.
You said before I will come.
What will I become?
Is what I wanted you to be like before I was.
Okay.
I like that. I like that telling as well. We'll just we'll stick with that.

(01:37:04):
Before I will come the future.
Yeah. And then my last two notes were how the fuck is that kid's wrong still there and not enough hybrid shit. So, yeah, I was under world evolution.
Yes, underworld evolution.

(01:37:26):
This has been quite a discussion of the lore of Likens V where. Oh, could you imagine.
I is that what the future is if I'm sure that's what they say is there's factions against there's the it's all right now. It's not just like in ZV vampires.

(01:37:47):
It's you know, I'd imagine whatever the movie after rise the Likens will be something like that.
But we'll see for now. This has been underworld evolution.
I'm going to read some reviews or do you want to take a little break? See? No, no. Go for it. All right.
So let's check out what the people have to say. What do people have to say?

(01:38:11):
What do people say? Part of the episode we find out what people have to say.
Let's go to the critics first.
They give it a 17 percent one seven percent. Very, very bad.
It's like real bad. It's very bad. Yeah.

(01:38:36):
There will be some negative opinions here.
Let's start with Derek Adams from Time Out.
I can't even begin to divulge the storyline because it's mostly unfathomable unfathomable.
It's more than it's unlikeable.
Oh, no, he did it. James Dyer, Empire magazine, James Dyer from Empire.

(01:39:04):
Evolution's action sequences are as horribly bungled as its plot, resulting in a string of repetitive, repetitive, repetitive, repetitive, repetitive confrontations.
I feel toothless even by the last movie standards. One out of five. Repetitive.
Repetitive.

(01:39:27):
Paul Arendt BBC.com.
So dedicated to its ludicrously convoluted plot that it takes half an hour to explain what the hell is going on.
It explains what's going on right from the get go. I would actually argue the opposite.
Over explanation.
Over explanation is the problem.
Stephen Metcalf Slate.

(01:39:50):
I dare anyone to follow the plot, which manages like some ill baked meringue to be both too light on the surface and too densely clotted underneath.
Oh, I don't know, like a meringue. That's totally right.
Yeah. Underworld evolution is like a meringue.
Like a meringue.
Stephen Metcalf at Slate.
Like a meringue.

(01:40:11):
Jeanette Katsoulis, New York Times. With leads who strain to manage one facial expression between them and a cinematographer shooting everything through the same steel blue filter.
Underworld evolution is a monotonous barrage of computer generated fur and fangs.

(01:40:34):
And we'll go with one more from Nell Minow, Movie Mom. You're on top critics at Rotten Tomatoes.
She's a movie mom.
An incoherent mess covered in sticky goopy blood without one interesting action scene or fresh stunt.
Yikes.

(01:40:55):
Go straight to your room.
And then we'll go to the audience side of things, a 72 as opposed to the 17. This really fits our podcast folks.
This is the kind of disparity we're looking for here on the polarize pad.
This is a successful epi-5, I've ever seen one.

(01:41:18):
We'll start with a five stars on letterbox from Little Lactaid.
Why would I listen to your lies when the journey to the truth is so much sweeter?
Oh, yes, Marcus, you hideous bitch.
I love this time capsule of the early 2000s. We were all really going through it, huh?

(01:41:42):
What? What were we going through?
I don't know. We were going through it.
The Beckinsale phase.
Five stars from Tony, just as massive as the first one.
Whoo. It's one of those cases where you can where you can love the first film and the sequel together and apart.
I love these movies that sometimes I don't be knowing which one to put on.

(01:42:06):
I know it's the first one. And at times where it's this one.
This adds on to the myth of so frickin well.
I love how it gets more into the world of both creatures and you find out more from Serene's Pass.
Epic action. And Kate just kills it.
Both movies are masterpieces and some of my favorite films of all time.

(01:42:27):
I hold these dearly.
Can't wait to see Len Wiseman back this year or in 2025.
Yeah, there might be a new one.
Wow.
Five stars or Mark of Night Rider.
What's that?
We're ahead of the time. Yeah, they're talking about doing a.
I mean, this was written February 5th, 2024.

(01:42:50):
So Tony is on it.
That's why I like these modern, modern reviews.
It's nice to see people still feeling it.
Mark of Night Rider.
Five stars. In all seriousness, Underworld Evolution is actually really awesome.
This and Godzilla King of Monsters are my go to examples of sequels that are way better than the first movies.

(01:43:12):
Holy shit. I am just floored.
Also, Marcus and William are better than Thanos.
Fight me. Yeah.
Better than Thanos.
Godzilla King of Monsters, another polarizing movie.
Yeah.
We'll do a couple more here from ZJ five stars.

(01:43:34):
These films are making me realize things about myself.
Yikes. Give me that juicy underworld lore.
Oh, and Gore.
Oh, yes.
Though a bit of CGI mess.
Those final two kills were amazing.
Oh, OK.
You know what?

(01:43:55):
Good for you.
You do you, man.
But Pia five stars, I would unicorn for Scott Speedman and Kate Beckinsale if they asked me.
Holy moly.
Holy guacamole.
From Cy five stars.
You know, they get shit done in these movies.
LMFAO. Man or monster, you are dead dead if you're killed in the underworld universe.

(01:44:20):
No question about it.
This franchise is all is art.
I.D.K. I.D.K.
It's like it was made for me.
Tee hee.
And then finally from Cali.
Yep.
Vampires, Likens, Kate Beckinsale and latex suit.
What more to ask for five stars.

(01:44:42):
I mean, really, at the end of the day, you know what you're getting with an underworld underworld movie.
Vampires, Likens, Kate Beckinsale and latex suit.
That's what you get, I assume, with every single one of these movies, except the next one, which is the odd man out.
Very excited for that one.
As for this one, I feel like this is the polarization of it all.

(01:45:05):
The whole reason for this podcast to comments on that, I'd say it's really just a classic case of, you know, critics like this is a a sequel to a blockbusters.
And that's kind of like the typical movies that critics hate are the blockbusters, not all blockbusters, but it's an easier one for the stereotypical ones are critics, a blockbuster is an audience's hate.

(01:45:28):
Weird indie small movies are experienced on this podcast.
This one is a sequel of a blockbuster.
And re upping on on some of those negative parts of the first one, but also anti upping on some of the other fun stuff.
So I don't know.

(01:45:49):
Let's see where we land on it.
Brandy, you want to kick us off here?
Yeah, happy to.
Yeah, I don't think this movie works for me as much as the first one, unfortunately.
I do like some of the lore expansion, though I it keeps me interested in a like we've talked about kind of allows me to think about what this can be and what this could be more so than what it actually is.

(01:46:28):
I overall enjoyed it.
I overall enjoyed it.
I yeah, I there's like I had mentioned, maybe we'll get to if there's something deeper in me that is allowing me to be a little bit more forgiving of this franchise for its faults.

(01:46:51):
But yeah, it's not really a good movie.
But it is I don't know there's there's a sweetness to it that I wouldn't mind returning to.
Yeah, I think for me this is like since like it's 71 is where I'm at.

(01:47:14):
Very nice.
You know, yeah, I do.
I totally get it, man. I'm it's it makes it easier in a way to I feel like absorb the fun side of this in the same way as you.
And I feel like you are familiar enough with the Lord as well. We're like, even some of my questions are answered in a way that I'm like, oh, well, yeah, that actually makes sense.

(01:47:41):
And are you actually even like it more now because of how you how you put it like that? I've been a couple of times in this conversation.
I'm like, you know what? It makes complete sense. It makes sense.
I don't know why I have this soft spot for this movie, too.
This is coming from someone that didn't like grow up watching them a bunch. I remember seeing them from afar.
I mean, like those like, yeah, those look pretty cool. I know why I haven't watched them.

(01:48:02):
And then they just kept making them and making them. And to to jump in now, it's the frustrating things and why it's not going to get like super high score is because those things just aren't fully fleshed out and fully taken advantage of in a way that is satisfying enough to me.

(01:48:23):
But this movie has me like still thinking about the lore and still thinking about the past, present, future of the underworld universe.
Like, I think it's so again, I think it's so great that there is like this whole past element to this movie that all these characters are gradually finding out about within like old books and from people that are immortal and then are telling these stories word of mouth and that they're discovering things that way.

(01:48:49):
But then there's like this new element of the hybrid and they're all coming together and cross acting. And that's a very difficult thing to provide a narrative for and in a completely intelligible way and not have, you know, some sort of convoluted elements to make it seem like, you know, there's a mystery and there's something happening within some little slice of the pie of this big, big pie of this narrative that they're trying to get into that spans whatever, however long it does.

(01:49:18):
But for this one, it checks a lot of a lot of boxes still for me where it picks up right where the other one left off. It gives me a lot more of the same.
And then it gives me new stuff as well as, you know, not enough of the hybrid, but I get this hybrid guy. I get this like super powerful vampire and I get the super powerful werewolf.

(01:49:42):
And I think in that way, it's weird. It almost like limits it a little bit where there are scenes where there's like groups of people attacking each other. But the way that it devolves in the first one into like just mobs of guys going at each other was a wasn't as interesting as the final set piece of this movie.

(01:50:05):
And that's where this movie beats the first one in a way is that you get the final set piece in a castle. You get the ultimate ultimate vampire ultimate werewolf.
And it's I don't know. It's fucking dope. And it's like this. Yeah, this super strong albino werewolf. It's the best one that the Likens have ever that they've looked at the effects and everything.

(01:50:29):
And all of those pieces coming together with Kate Beckinsale and the hybrid of Scott Speedman, I think is like peak underworld so far for me is the castle is the castle scene.
It doesn't meet the heights of some of the other stuff in the first one, obviously, and in just pure enjoyment factor and Michael Sheen and Bill Nye and divvying out that backstory in that way. But that that final set piece had me had me grinning and this whole franchise I think will continue to do that.

(01:51:03):
And yeah, I think I gave the last one like a 72. I can see you even pumping that up to like 75 or something. But for this one, you all go go down a bit.
I'll do 65. Do 65. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. Like 65 64 something something like that. Totally. I'm just so happy that these movies exist. So it's like the whole time I was thinking, even when I was like, oh, this is getting a little like up its own butt.

(01:51:32):
I was like, like, I, there's no part of me that wishes that this shit just didn't exist or that like, why is this? Why is this happening to me? Why is this? I'm just like, this is this is they think they are so cool. And at times they really fucking are are really cool.

(01:51:54):
So it's they succeed in that way. And I got to give them give them due credit. Very curious about this next one, as we've alluded to that will be we're still working through this polarizing series.
The camps are set between the audiences and the critics, i.e. vampires, likens. And it's cool to have an ongoing battle and within our podcast, as well as the characters within the movie.

(01:52:22):
So the next one will be a prequel. And the first one that I took part in, it will be saying sounds Beckinsale. Right.
But like a look alike, not directed by lens, Len Wiseman, whatever his name is, it's a director. Yeah, I'm curious what someone else does with it.

(01:52:45):
But we got Michael Sheen back, Rona Mitra as Sanja, Bill Nye as Victor coming back. Tannis is there.
We get the Kevin Graveau raise the guy with the voice in the first one.
Yeah, I'm I'm just in on this. And this is this is going to be something that like and it's it's an hour and a half.

(01:53:09):
2009. Great. It's it's like going to fill in all those gaps of this movie that they were trying to do all those flashbacks for. It's just going to be a whole movie. Those flashbacks. Great. Awesome.
Right. Yeah. And the review or the numbies here are a 30 percent by the critics. It goes up a little bit from the last one and a 63 percent by the audience goes down a bit.

(01:53:30):
So it's interesting to see them meeting in the middle in some way, shape or form. And this is also the beginning of where it's these movies start to release in January.
Oh, it's supposed to be a. It's like for the next. All right. Maybe this was the first one, but like they're like three year increments release every like January 20th, the weekend of like January 20th.

(01:53:58):
It's it's kind of interesting. They're like they decide their their release date. Yeah. Let's see. We got Underworld Evolution January 20th, 2006 was the first one, January 20th.
So never mind Underworld Rise of the Lichens January 23rd, 2009 and Underworld Awakening January 20th, 2012. Awakening. Are we doing that as well?

(01:54:21):
The next one we will do be doing after Rise of the Lichens. I can find out for you. Just give me one.
I'm not sure if it's awakening or blood wars. I think it might be awakening, which would be the next one.
And there's oh, wow. I didn't realize there was even one more. Yeah, there's five. Yeah.

(01:54:42):
They're all polarized. Underworld Awakening is the one we will be doing after Rise of the Lichens. And then, yeah, like the the blood world, blood wars.
There is just rotten 2149 audience, but that can be a bonus up if we so choose. But we'll at least be getting up to Underworld Awakening just to give you guys the heads up if you want to go ahead and just work through that that series.

(01:55:19):
Oh, wow. Wow. I just like I can't believe like I know about the underworld franchise. I just know. Yeah, I just know about some of that stuff. And yeah, if they if they ask me.
Yeah, so there's you know, there's that one one brother bitten by a wolf, one brother bitten by a bat. You know, that's Marcus and William. It's not a big deal.

(01:55:42):
You got your hybrid, you know, like my name's like, oh, you got your Victor. You got your William.
Just oh, my God. Yeah, I'm stumped deep in it. I love that we're becoming fucking underworld nerds. I kind of do, too.

(01:56:04):
If they had an underworld video game, I would have played it. I'm wondering if they if they had a good one. I feel like I would have heard about it, but it just it feel like it was dope action RPG of some kind. You just or you just choose your side. I don't know.
I don't know. Just choose Michael Schreiner and Kate Beckinsale or some shit.
It's an it's an MMORPG.

(01:56:25):
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's an MMORPG. You only get two choices, though. Yeah, it's like, you know, you choose your side and then you're in this internal battle. Yeah, no big deal.
It's no big deal. They should they should bring that back. Yeah, stop making such a big deal.
We're doing underworld the series, and it's not a huge deal. Everyone's making such a big deal out of it, and we're just trying to just we're just trying to understand it better. And I think we are. I think through these discussions overall, we're understanding the lore of underworld better. And I think we're enjoying it quite a bit.

(01:57:06):
It's a surprise to me and a good one at that. And I don't see myself putting these down forever. I feel like there'll be another day where I'll be like, you know what? I'm going back. I'm going back through. Yeah. Was that right?
I'm going to do an underworld franchise fucking again. You know, who knows? Good. That's good. That's good. Everybody knows. They'll bring it back. They're going to do. They'll do a reawakening.

(01:57:36):
We should write that movie.
I mean, I want like just off the blood memory thing. Yeah, just like a vampire. And that's just trying to like make its way through a modern world being like, I don't understand these new talents for social media. I'm just going to suck your blood so I can obtain them.
Oh, gotcha. So it's kind of like a like an infinite pill, but with blood.

(01:58:02):
Yeah. And kind of like a very vain vampire that like wants recognition, but has to like somehow change their identity like every so often and become a new new star in a different field and just has to test themselves on like, but then you find out that they're like, just stealing the talents by sucking the blood of the most talented people that exist at that time.

(01:58:27):
Now, being a TV show. Oh, I like that. Okay. Okay. Now you can just go through a piece of like, oh, he's a lawyer in the 1800s. Yes. Yes. James. Absolutely. No, you totally. Yeah, right. It's what if each season was a different time period? Yeah.

(01:58:49):
Different profession, different like, I mean, what's the door? What? Yeah. It's a love story to get the love story. That's enough. Man. One of the weaker parts. But yeah, once you once they like bite somebody and make them immortal too, then it's gonna be like, oh no, no, no, we're stuck in this together.

(01:59:10):
Yeah, that's where the show goes downhill. Yeah, it's a total. It's a total interview with the vampire situation. Yeah. But it's more about like, catch me if you can style.
Okay, you walk into you walk into the pitch meeting.
You can meet just meet meet interview with the vampire. You got it. Come on. Right. This way.

(01:59:43):
Take my money.
Well, that would be so funny. Okay.
This is true, true delight will rise with the likings next time. True pledge, true pledge, as one would say, from brandy greatest, greatest host to me the forever guests, greatest host your guests forever.

(02:00:08):
I hope you've enjoyed your time at the polarized pod. Come join us for any of our back at a log. We got plenty of polarizing movies and you can check out there. If you want to see us in the future. We're on the twitch.tv slash polarized pod twitch.tv slash polarized pod.
We stream it live every now and then send us a line and polarized the pod gmail.com rate review subscribe on Apple podcast anywhere else you get this and we appreciate you coming into our underworld home and from ours to yours.

(02:00:46):
To our happy holiday season.
Anything you'd like to add. I'm thankful for this pod. I'm thankful for friendship. I'm thankful for like kids and vampires being in this and locked in this internal war.
Yeah, that's like the likens are like you you vampires just celebrate fucking Thanksgiving every year. That's not that's not how we fucking know they can't do that because they'll throw up and get the police called on. Yeah, like, don't you know we can eat turkeys.

(02:01:18):
Unless they're alive and wriggling.
We thank you all.
We'll see you next time.
Bye.
Bye bye.