The Underworld Series

I've always loved a good action flick that portrays a strong and highly capable female "ass-kicker" in a sense :p  Oh and of course if she's got superhuman abilities that just makes it better.

The Underworld Series, crafted through the brilliant mind of Len Wisemen, is one such storyline that caught my attention from the beginning and really I do not believe they can do an injustice to it. 

From the first film, Underworld, leading Kate Beckinsale in the role of Selene the pissed off, but totally fit vampire death dealer who locks into the dark secrets of her coven's history and eventually realizes the truth behind her own creation, into the sequel, Underworld: Evolutions, where things just get better and better -- the writers have kept the story consistent and gripping.

The third installment, Rise of the Lycans, which served as a prequel to the first two movies only adds to the brilliant and unique storyline. 

Rhona Mitra plays Sonja, the courageous daughter of Viktor, who is a an Elder of the vampire coven and for centuries led people to believe that he was the first vampire -- but in Evolutions we find out that he wasn't the first vampire, it was actually Marcus - another Elder.

Anyways -- Sonja falls in love with a Lycan, Lucian (played by Michael Sheen). Who are werewolves able to take human form (Lucian was the first of his kind). Lycans are slaves to the vampires. Lucian eventually rebels and frees his kind, starting the war that we hear so much about in the first two movies.

Vampires hold a soft spot for me. I even toughed it out through one of the most challenging courses in my uni, gothic literature, because I'm so intrigued by their history. The storylines that have emerged from this...myth...historical entity...whatever you want to call it, have been quite amazing. Anne Rice, of course is the most famous author, having penned "Interview with the Vampire" and "Vampire Lestat". Josh Whedon created "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in a tv series that spanned 8 seasons and produced some of the most deeply mythological and heart-wrenching storylines (e.g. Buffy's love with a vampire who has a soul and the death of her mother! And how can we forget the history behind the creation of a slayer in every generation). More recently, Stephanie Meyer's account on vampires in Twilight, has tweens and women swooning over these insanely hot creatures of the night.

What is it about these vampires? Perhaps it's their sultry nature; or the fact that the male vamps love to brood and look heartbroken, while the female vamps carry passion in their eyes and for some reason always look like they're about to pounce on someone. Or maybe we love the fact that we can spend all night with them and then not have to see them in the morning. Is it the dark, secret, hidden nature of theirs that attracts readers? The myth, hot characters and superhuman abilities is what attracts people to the movies, there's no doubt about that. Is it because we envy their immortality? Do we envy immortality? To forever look your best and have all the money in the world, not afraid of anything, and the ability to see and experience a wealth of things over a vast period of time...

I think people are just attracted to things like torture and anguish -- and that's the sad bottom line :p

But Underworld is unique in that it provides everything mentioned above and then some. It reaches into the depths of human emotions for characters that are anything but human. For me the selling point was that it indulged in themes such as origins and legacies and evolution. That's a sufficient storyline for me.

Go pick up a good vampire book -- or watch a good vampire movie. It's well worth the distraction.

;)