Underworld: Awakening

Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Michael Ealy, Stephen Rea, Theo James, India Eisley, Charles Dance
Directed by: Mans Marlind, Bjorn Stein
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Horror
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Selene (Kate Beckinsale) awakens 12 years later to discover a world where humans have all but wiped out the Lycans and Vampires. Now, she finds herself in the middle of a new, brewing conflict.

Review:

Tim: I've always thought the Underworld movies were fairly disappointing. They were always lackluster efforts that had just enough style to keep audiences mildly interested. I've never been a fan of these movies, and I am a bit surprised this franchise has now extended to four films. While the others were mostly tolerable, it seems like the franchise was creatively bankrupt with Underworld: Awakening. I pray this is the final film.

This whole movie felt rushed, chaotic, and poorly written. While these movies have never been great, I don't remember any of the others being so bad. This fourth film felt like a complete cash grab- like no one involved was particularly interested in crafting a good movie. It felt like the producers just threw up whatever they could on screen, confident the audience would come regardless of how silly or stupid the events were. This is the first film in the franchise that I actively disliked.

I actually had some decent hopes for this movie. It was fun to see Kate Beckinsale back in the lead role after a one-film absence. These movies are all about her, and I did feel some excitement about her getting back into this role. Unfortunately, the script around her in a convoluted mess. This felt like a cheap attempt to rip off countless other movies. I honestly can't think of a legitimately original idea in this entire film. In fact, nearly everything we seen on screen is not only unoriginal, it's tired. This movie features one thing after another that's been played out to death. There are massive plot holes in the film, and so many things happen that defy logic and are all too convenient to moving the plot forward. Watching this movie felt like a total joke.

While I enjoyed seeing Beckinsale back, the dialogue she utters made me cringe. The whole plot is so stupid and she looks stupid taking it all so seriously. It is definitely time for her to move on with her career, because this role is holding her back. I liked seeing Stephen Rea and Charles Dance, but they have nothing to work with. I like Michael Ealy, but his character, especially, suffers from the poor writing. The film is missing Scott Speedman, but some lookalike actor was put in place, as if we wouldn't notice. That definitely hurt the film.

I felt like the story was pretty weak. We leap forward 12 years into the future, and see that the whole world has changed. Rather than Vampires fighting Lycans, humans have learned of both species' existence and began wiping them out. I actually really enjoyed these scenes (which are far too short). It is fascinating to think about what the reaction would be if humans discovered other, nonhuman species were living among them. Unfortunately, this doesn't last long, and we see Selene wake up and discover a new world around her. She doesn't seem too fazed by the fact that she's been asleep for 12 years (and technology sadly hasn't advanced much, because the world looks exactly the same). The plot here starts to get more and more ridiculous. There's an evil corporation, scientists and test subjects, mutations, and more. It feels very much like a Resident Evil movie. The plot plods along in a very predictable fashion. There is nothing here to make us care about the characters or what we see on screen. I felt completely ambivalent about all of it. We do get some of the gritty violence and gruesome bloodshed that earns this film an "R" rating, but it's all for nothing. We're now in the fourth film in this franchise, and it still can't answer the "Why?" question. Why should we care about anything that happens or anyone on screen? This film seems even less concerned than previous installments with answering that question.

The Underworld franchise has never been very good, but with Awakening, it hits a new low. While this franchise had some interesting, clever ideas once upon a time, those ideas seem to have completely disappeared here. This is a bad movie by any measuring stick. I did not enjoy it and I shudder at the thought of ever watching it again. While there are a few good action scenes and it's always fun seeing Beckinsale in this movies, it's definitely time to close up shop. I hope this is the last movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Underworld, Underworld: Evolution, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans