Latest News

25 / 07 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the eleventh race in Germany are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Hungary next weekend on 1st August.

11 / 07 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally Bulgaria are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next rally is Finland on THURSDAY 29th July (a day earlier than usual!).

11 / 07 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the tenth race in Silverstone are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Hockenheim on 25th July.

27 / 06 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the ninth race in Valencia are in, including the penalties for the naughty boys driving too fast. Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Silverstone on 11th July.

13 / 06 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the eighth race in Canada are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Valencia on 27th June.

30 / 05 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally Portugal are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next rally is Bulgaria on 9th July.

30 / 05 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the exciting seventh race in Turkey are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Canada on 13th June.

16 / 05 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The Monaco scores have been updated to reflect Michael Schumacher's ridiculous penalty for daring to overtake a Ferrari. Check the updated results, see how your team did or enter a new team.

16 / 05 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the sixth race in Monaco are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Turkey on 30th May.

10 / 05 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the fifth race in Barcelona are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Monaco on 16th May.

10 / 05 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally New Zealand are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next rally is Portugal on 28th May.

19 / 04 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally Turkey are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next rally is New Zealand on 7th May.

18 / 04 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the fourth race in China are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Barcelona on 9th May.

06 / 04 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The JWRC driver lineup has been released, so you can make your selection before teams are frozen for Turkey on the night of 15th April. If you don't pick anyone, you'll get Aaron Burkart by default.

05 / 04 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the third race in Malaysia are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is China on 18th April.

03 / 04 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally Jordan are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Turkey on 14th April.

29 / 03 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the second race in Melbourne are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Malaysia THIS WEEKEND on 4th April.

14 / 03 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the first race in Bahrain are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Australia on 28th March.

09 / 03 / 2010
Fantasy F1! Yes, there's a brand new Fantasy Formula One game! Check the rules or enter your team by Friday night to qualify for the first race in Bahrain!

08 / 03 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally Mexico are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Jordan on 1st April.

17 / 02 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The points awarded for a win have changed in the real WRC, so we've reflected the changes in our scoring too. Check the rules to see the details. Next rally is Mexico on 5th March, teams will be frozen at midnight on the night of Thursday 4th March.

16 / 02 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally Sweden are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team.

31 / 01 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The new rally season is upon us - 2010 Fantasy Rally is now open! Check the rules or pick a team ready for the start on 12th Feb.

25 / 10 / 2009
Fantasy Rally: All previous years' Fantasy Rally results are online - Check the 2009 season.

02 / 08 / 2009
Reviews: Sorry, there won't be any more movie reviews for the foreseeable future. Events have overtaken me. Catch up on reviews you may have missed.

18 / 08 / 2005
Sudoku! Have a go at the online Sudoku game.

Underworld Evolution

Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Derek Jacobi, Bill Nighy, Tony Curran, Steven Mackintosh. Directed by Len Wiseman (Kate Beckinsale's hubby). Story: Vampires vs Werewolves, round 2. Running Time: 1hr 45 minutes. UK Certificate 18.

Underworld was something of a missed opportunity - Underworld Evolution gives Len Wiseman a chance to make amends. Does he succeed? Well, no, not really. It's just not special enough.

Once again, the director's wife Kate Beckinsale takes centre stage as Selene, the vampiric hunter of werewolves - no, sorry, "Lycans". The story's too silly to go into here, suffice to say a big nasty wingy thing is after Selene and her wolfy friend and the world is in danger, yadda yadda. The story's a little tricky to follow and isn't really worth the effort but, it has to be said, the acting is spot on. Kate Beckinsale pouts and broods away in latex for all she's worth, with superb support from Derek Jacobi, Tony Curran and Steven Mackintosh (the posh wimpy pot dealer in Lock Stock). Bill Nighy returns in flashback and is breathtakingly good in a deliciously malevolent role that lets him spit his lines with pleasing ferocity. The weak link is Scott Speedman as Selene's lupine partner Michael Corvin - in this company he's comprehensively outclassed and seems half-asleep much of the time.

Underworld Evolution is, by and large, an effects-driven movie, and some of them are a little over-ambitious. The simpler effects are largely magnificent, but by trying to achieve too much, parts of the action sequences have become laughably comical. The helicopters, too, look about as real as Thomas the Tank Engine, and the infantile wire work - well, I've stated my position on wire-work before, it has no place in today's effects armoury. The overall atmostphere is still pretty cool though, with high-contrast lighting and slo-mo effects creating a comfortable style that is easy to watch. Thus it will appeal to the younger male audience in a Van Helsing kind of way, although this is considerably darker.

Underworld Evolution is an adequate sequel to a mediocre original. Fans of the first Underworld will be pleased and newcomers may have an entertaining enough time. Better than Blade Trinity, but then that's not saying much.

I enjoyed this film: 3/5

I think the average moviegoer will enjoy it: 4/5 - it ticks all the action boxes, after all.

Testosterone Satisfaction Rating: 5/5 - lots of gory action, a couple of gratuitious f-words, some almost-skin from Kate Beckinsale (preview here) and some actual skin from extra Kaja Gjesdal (here). The 18 certificate is a bit excessive, 15 would be more appropriate.

To enjoy this film you should be: into movies like Blade, Van Helsing etc.