The first two Underworld entries are really interesting in that they were made in the mid-2000s and were simultaneously very 90s and very 2000s at the same time. It retained the neo-expressionist (I stole this term from Comrade Yui as I can't think of any other term to express this) aesthetic of the 90s with it's liquid lighting and all manner of reflective surfaces and added in a post-Matrix style of action with high frame rate slow motion, latex…
It's very fun from a narrative point of view and craft-wise is damn solid, but considering how widely referenced, parodied and homaged this film is, it's surprisingly unstylish and severely lacking in any substance. While maybe not the fairest comparison since it's much newer and takes a lot from this film, the anime series Great Pretender is as fun, if not more so than this film narratively, actually has some character substance, and has style in spades.
Everyone keeps getting caught up in how "wasted" Kurt Russell is in this film due to his usual charisma being subdued that no one seems to be bringing up the fact that much of this film excises dialogue in favour of the camera and actors telling the story through close ups and staring. It almost feels like a Takeshi Kitano film at some points.
Feels very much like Tony Scott's True Romance in that an insincere script is being directed by a very sincere director. Underrated even by Johnnie To enthusiasts likely because of the script, To's form here is both experimental and customarily strong - strong enough to carry the whole film, especially when it comes to depicting relationships between characters and staging action sequences with an unusually dynamic camera and Steven Soderbergh-like editing. And unlike some of To's more popular early works…
