Sequels. There seems to be a new one each week in movie theaters across America. As much as I rail against the majority of them, there is something worse. There is something much much worse. Prequels. There is nothing more pointless than prequels. There are no good prequels. Just look at the ones George Lucas did. “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans,” is the newest addition to this horrible Hollywood trend.
Long ago, vampires were the ruling class. They had Lycan (werewolf) slaves to serve them. Vampire elder Viktor’s (Bill Nighy) Lycan, Lucian (Michael Sheen), is fiercely loyal. Viktor trusts him over any other Lycan. His daughter Sonja (Rhona Mitra) falls in love with Lucian and the two keep their affair hidden. The mixing of the bloodlines is forbidden. When Viktor finds out he has Lucian thrown in prison where he insights a rebellion and starts the war between Vampires and Lycans. 
There was no need to make this movie. I liked “Underworld” and that gives you all the information you need to know about how the war started. Seeing this is like watching “Titanic,” you know how it is going to end. Viktor will find out, kill his own daughter because she is pregnant with a mixed blood baby and Lucian gets the other Lycans to fight the Vampires.
Sorry to ruin the movie, but if you really wanted to know the story, watch the first one. Much better movie and it takes the movie and boils it down to a five-minute segment.
There is nothing spectacular about the movie. The acting is just so-so, the special effects are not that impressive, the story is told better in the first movie. Over all there is nothing really worth recommending.
How’s that for a quick review? I kind of wish there was more to talk about because I have not reviewed a movie in a while, but this is it.
The bright side is I was not as long winded as I usually am, so that may be one good thing to come out of this movie.
4 out of 10
Rated R for bloody violence and some sexuality
92 min
America loves the comeback story. We love to see the people who have lost it all and comeback better than ever. There are people who make a huge deal as they slowly destroy themselves and their careers. That is what happened with Mickey Rourke.
He was an up-and-coming star in the 80’s. He was good looking and talented. It looked like he would be a huge star, but he was dubbed hard to work with and his return to boxing took away his good looks. No one would hire him and virtually disappeared to oblivion. He made smaller movies that no one really saw. Robert Rodriguez cast him in 2005’s “Sin City.” That brings us too now. The movie that is being called the resurrection of Rourke’s career: “The Wrestler.”
Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Rourke) had a successful career as a wrestler in the 80’s, but now he is stuck doing smaller shows. He lives alone in a trailer he can barely pay for and has not talked to his daughter in years. He has befriended Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), a stripper doing her best to support her son. When Randy suffers a heart attack after a match he is told he can never wrestle again. For a man who is only truly alive in the ring, this is death. He works at the deli counter in a grocery store, tries to reconnect with his daughter and tries to get his life in order. When things turn for the worst, he resorts to the one thing he loves: wrestling.
The hype behind Rourke’s performance is not without merit. He is perfect for the role. Randy is a shell of his former self. He is scraping by on whatever he gets at the shows. Rourke is stunning in this role. There is a sadness that is behind everything in his life, except wrestling. He only works odd jobs to pay the bills between wrestling gigs. He only goes to the strip club to not be alone.
In one of the more emotional scenes, Randy admits to his daughter that their bad relationship is his fault. He was never really there for many years and that is why their relationship has been strained. He tells her, “I’m an old broken down piece of meat and I’m alone and I deserve to be alone. I just don’t want you to hate me.”
There are many scenes where the camera follows Randy as he enters a room, the deli, the strip club, and the wrestling ring. It
is a subtle way to show that in the ring is the only place Randy is truly alive. There is nothing exciting about his life outside the ring. That is why, when he is forced to stop wrestling, it hurts him more than anything in the ring. 
The movie is performance driven and has the prefect performance to drive it. Rourke is simply amazing and deserves all the praise he is getting. Come Oscar night it would be a travesty from him to go home empty handed.
8 out of 10
Rated R for violence, sexuality/nudity, language and some drug use
115 min
