Underworld: Evolution
Screen Gems | Release Date: January 20, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
36
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
9
Negative:
9
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
VarietyJoe Leydon
Overall package is potent. A few rock-the-house scenes of slam-bang derring-do -- are nothing short of sensationally exciting. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
True to its serial roots, this equally silly but undeniably entertaining sequel to "Underworld" (2003) picks up right where its high-grossing predecessor left off and offers more of the same. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerDavid Hiltbrand
A monster chiller sequel that is visually spectacular but rather overburdened with story. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesStephen Farber
Wiseman, a former art director and music video director, has a definite sense of style and pace, and the creature transformations are eye-popping. In addition, the cast raises the movie above the level of routine genre schlock. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
They're still fighting in this sequel. But this is a more visually inspired, muscularly made movie than its predecessor. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Designed with Underworld fans in mind. Others need not apply. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyGregory Kirschling
I especially like how, when Beckinsale's half-wolf, half-vampire friend Scott Speedman moves in for a kiss, you can hear the black leather of her dominatrix getup crinkle and crackle on the soundtrack like an old saddle. Sizzlin'! Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Writer-director Len Wiseman, now the star's husband, wisely moves this sequel to the countryside and wastes less time dispensing the same grog of grisly CGI combat and mythical mumbo jumbo. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
There's a ton of backstory behind Underworld: Evolution, which gets slightly denser and rowdier than its predecessor, but it's ultimately all in the service of a nigh-endless series of numbing, mechanical battles in which snarling protagonists and CGI monsters shoot, claw, and bloodily eviscerate each other. In other words, it's "Underworld," but more of it. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
Unfortunately, there's little wit or genuine suspense to elevate the proceedings above the level of a cheesy comic book. Read full review
40
SalonStephanie Zacharek
The plot is so convoluted that missing even five minutes at a stretch won't make any difference in your comprehension of the story. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
It's not quite quick enough to be anywhere near as gloomily engaging as the cast's original outing. Read full review
30
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
The fascist undercurrents of this battle remain unexplored. Maybe one day, Hollywood will figure out that pouring acting-challenged starlets into black neoprene and sticking them in front of a blue screen do not a movie make. We can but hope. Read full review
30
Village VoiceBen Kenigsberg
There's no guiding power at work here; it's Evolution without a shred of intelligent design. Read full review
30
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
With her long, black coat and midair karate-chop skills, Selene is more Matrix-y Neo than Count Dracula, which may explain why this movie is so brutally un-fun. Read full review
25
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The esteemed actor Derek Jacobi goes slumming as someone who pulls that metal badge from the chest of a cadaver. Shakespeare it's not. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle Smith
Underworld Evolution has antecedents in literature ("Dracula"), film ("The Matrix") and song ("Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue"). How does it rip off so much, yet learn so little? Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie Punter
Classic style over substance, with some gruesome-looking creatures and settings and non-stop shooting and biting (both the vampires and werewolves get their teeth into it). But, alas, at almost two hours, it is much ado about nothing. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
Humorless, confusing and not very fun to watch. Read full review
20
EmpireJames Dyer
But for all her slinky, undead-chic looks, Beckinsale can't carry the film on curves alone and there's not much else here worthy of attention. Evolution's action sequences are as horribly bungled as its plot, resulting in a string of repetitive confrontations that feel toothless even by the last movie’s standards. Read full review
20
SlateStephen Metcalf
Beckinsale is an elegant woman—before she was the Emma Peel of the undead, she was Jane Austen's Emma, and before she was Emma, she was passing A levels in German, French, and Russian literature—and all her stalking and seething keep the movie from being totally unwatchable. Read full review
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