Yeah Micheal was a back seat character in the sequal... which seemed odd given the main focus of the first film. I guess they thought the story of Marcus and William and the origin of the two lines was a better story than Selene and Micheal on the run for 2 hours. In the first film they explain why Lucian was so set on seeking revenge against the vampires. Other than brotherly love I had no real feel for why Marcus was so adimit on freeing his brother who couldn't control his rage. That aside I liked UE, I think even better than the first one. As far as the gore and violence I didn't mind that ... but I think my gender has something to do with that