If ever a movie needed one of those TV-style "Previously on..." catch-ups at the beginning, it's this baffling continuation of the gothic action fang-tasy from 2003.

Plot and characters take a sticky back seat to effects, gore and gunplay as random flashbacks offer too little and a shoehorned-in history lesson comes too late to save Evolution from being an unholy mess.

If it helps, here's a rough guess as to what's going on...

Centuries ago, the first immortal, Corvinus, had twin sons who came to spawn two races of creature, both equally harmful to humankind.

Bitten by a bat, Marcus (Tony Curran) is now a virulent super-vampire, while a wolf-bite allowed his even nastier brother William to beget a line of insatiable lycans.

But because he was so naughty, William was locked up by Marcus' vampire crony Viktor (Nighy). Then Viktor was killed by his PVC-clad protégée Selene (cue epileptic flashbacks to movie #1), but he still holds the key to William's prison.

Marcus wants the key to free Willy and use his brother's hairy hordes as muscle when he conquers the world. Mwahahahahaaaah!

But dad Corvinus (Derek Jacobi, slumming it), who's been watching all the fun from a safe distance, now feels the urge to step in.

Joining the fray like the lovechild of Blade and Catwoman, outcast Selene is determined to thwart Marcus with her boyfriend Michael (Speedman). But he's having trouble getting to grips with his half-vampire/half-wolf physiology.

There's nothing wrong with make-believe but this is utter nonsense - as in it makes no sense. Depending on their relevance to the plot, characters can be either killed with a single stab or heal miraculously after being practically ripped in half.

And why all the shooting when bullets clearly have no effect on their undead targets? Could it be because guns make lots of noise and look cool?

Where Underworld had a certain allure, Evolution is a backward step. The action is adequately frantic and bloody but it's all so familiar that viewers are more likely to be drumming their fingers than biting their claws.

Elliott Noble