Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is the sequel of Underworld Evolution starring Kate Beckinsale, who was also starring in the first part of the trilogy Underworld.

The movie deals with the history of Lucian, who is a werewolf and become a kind of a son to a vampre, when his parents were slaughtered when he was a child.

--> resemblance to Time Machine, the story about Elois and Morlocks, who are eating some of the Elois from time to time.And about being lost in time.

The film received in general mixed and average critics. As of January 26, 2009, it has a rating of 44% based on 39 critics on the aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. ^[1] Metacritic lists it with a 47 out of 100, which indicates "mixed or average reviews", based on 9 reviews.^[2]

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times is impressed by the appearance and performance of Michael Sheen: “Although the presence of Mr. Sheen … is initially distracting, it soon becomes the movie’s greatest asset. There is, as it turns out, some benefit to having a real performance even in a formulaic entertainment like this, as shown by Mr. Sheen’s commitment here and by the lackluster star turn of Kate Beckinsale in the previous movies. (…) The actor’s value is particularly evident during the various fight sequences, which — because they are underlighted and, as is too often the case in contemporary genre cinema, overedited — come across as needlessly chaotic. It’s at moments like these that Mr. Sheen’s bright eyes become beacons, two points of light in the murky dark.” ^[3]

Glenn Whip of The Los Angeles Times said, “Series creator Len Wiseman gives way here to Patrick Tatopoulos, a creature designer making his directorial debut. Both men clearly have an affinity for the absurd. … The action sequences accent incomprehensibility, but whenever Lucian gets lashed (and he gets lashed a lot), Tatopoulos spotlights the splatter.” The author is also appreciating the performances of Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen as “esteemed British thespians.” ^[4]

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans had a wide release on January 23, 2009 at 2,942 theaters and grossed estimated $8,050,000, ranking number 1 at the domestic box office in its opening day. ^[5] In its opening weekend the film grossed estimated $20,700,000, ranking number 2 for the weekend, behind Paul Blart: Mall Cop at number 1.^[6] As of February 6, 2009, the film grossed $35,157,990 at the domestic and $45,516,211 at the box office woldwide. ^[7]

On November 12, 2008 “Slumdog Millionaire” had a limited release at 10 theaters and grossed $32,984 . ^[8] The film opened in wide release on December 26, 2008 at 614 theaters and grossed $4,301,870. ^[9] In the weekend January 23-25, 2005 the film reached the widest release at 1,411 theaters and grossed in total $55,916,000 at the domestic box office and a total of $72,809,456 at the box office worldwide.^[9] As of February 8, 2009, the film grossed estimated $71,991,000 at the domestic box office and $113,139,384 at the box office worldwide. ^[10]