Underworld: Blood Wars

Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Theo James, Charles Dance, Tobias Menzies, Lara Pulver, James Faulkner
Directed by: Anna Foerster
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Adventure, Horror
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Evil forces seek to discover the whereabouts of Selene's (Kate Beckinsale) daughter, reluctantly pulling her back into the war.

Review:

Tim: It's hard to believe this is the fifth Underworld movie. None of them have been very good, yet they continue to be made. After watching the last movie, which came out in 2012, I said I hoped it would be the final installment. Five years later, we're back again with what is very likely the final film (this one had the lowest box office take of any film in the franchise, less than half of what the previous one made). This has always been a weak franchise, but it's now a tired one, too.

While this film was a box office disappointment, I actually think it was slightly better than the last film. Not a whole lot better, but at least it wasn't worse. Part of the issue with these films is that they all tend to run together. It's vampires verses lycans, some vampire clans verses other vampire clans. I don't know, it's not like it is overly complicated, but this franchise has never given me a reason to invest any time or energy in remembering who is who, what happened previously, or how the entire story unfolds over five films. It's just not worth the effort because I never actually liked any of these films. I just show up, try and remember what happened last time, and watch the current film. Maybe that's not the best way to do it, but I honestly can't spend much more energy on this franchise.

The story itself just feels redundant. There's very little here we haven't seen in other movies a hundred times before. The movie tries to throw some unexpected twists and turns at us, but mostly, we see everything coming a mile away. The whole movie feels predictable, like it's simply treading down the same path this franchise has traveled before. Sure, there might be a death here or there we weren't totally expecting, but the movie plays out about exactly as we'd expect. There's no real tension, no real excitement in anything we're seeing. I continually asked myself why I was watching the film. It was only mildly entertaining at even its best point.

I do continue to appreciate this franchise for highlighting a strong female protagonist. We need more of these kinds of movies, and to some extent, I appreciate Kate Beckinsale coming back for another round of this. I desperately wish she had a better movie around her, but it's always fun seeing her in this role. I also continue to appreciate the efforts of Theo James. He's proven over the years to be a talented young man, and he adds to this film. I do wish he had even more screen time. I also always love seeing the great Charles Dance. His superb talent is wasted here, but the movie is better as a result of him being here. The rest of the cast is utterly forgettable.

I have to criticize Anna Foerster some for her directing. This was her film directorial debut, and the 14 episodes of various television series she's directed did not prepare her for this. I don't know if she has talent or not, but it felt like this movie was too big for her. She directs a few decent action sequences, but the movie as a whole felt lackluster in every sense. Too much was going on, we didn't establish a strong enough connection with the characters, and the movie didn't thrill or entertain as it should have. This is just a bad movie.

Underworld has always been an under-performing franchise, so it's no surprise that the fifth film is pretty bad. While it does represent a slight increase in quality from the last film, there's not enough here to suggest there should be a sixth film. It's time to mothball this franchise for a decade until the eventual reboot. I can't say Underworld: Blood Wars did much for me, but that's par for the course with this franchise.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 5.5



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