Post by Mr.HoRrOr on Jan 20, 2012 23:05:59 GMT -5
Plot:When human forces discover the existence of the Vampire and Lycan clans, a war to eradicate both species commences. The vampire warrioress Selene leads the battle against humankind.
Cast:
Kate Beckinsale
Michael Ealy
Sandrine Holt
Robert Lawrenson
India Eisley
My Thoughts:Weakest entry of the franchise.
Review:After almost 3 years, the "Underworld" franchise has returned with "Underworld:Awakening". The fourth entry into the popular vampire vs. lycan series that began back in the early 2000's with "Underworld". Kate Beckinsale is back in this installment. As vampire/death dealer Selene. After the second film, "Underworld:Evolution". Selene and Michael now face a new enemy. Whom are not the vampire and lycan enemies that Selene feared would target her and Michael.
Which she spoke of at the end of "Underworld:Evolution". This time, the existence of Vampires and Lycan's has been leaked to the populace. And in typical human fashion, they have come out guns blazing against both species. Hunting them down and killing them wherever they may be. But within that idea, has also come another idea. Experimentation on both species. By a rogue company that wants to "enhance", vampires and lycans for their own ghoulish purposes. So now, Selene's enemy, has changed. Many years after she is captured by a squad of humans, and then inconsequentially, handed over to the aforementioned evil research guys.
This entry into the franchise blends all of the old tricks, with some new story arcs. This makes for a very shaky and rocky ship at times. The old stuff? Selene jumping off walls, acrobatics as she kills her enemies effortlessly. All while wearing the vintage spandex. Those scenes of Selene showing off her vampire agility where she slides across the floor with stabbing weapons. Or leaps from atop a building of scaffolding. And lands gracefully to the ground below. A move which would kill a normal person. And of course, there's a huge amount of gunplay in the movie.
In fact, I think this one might have more gunplay and shooting than "Evolution". Part 2 did. But, the story? Very weak this time around. In fact, it's almost held together by glue and popsicle sticks. Not that the first two movies didn't have story issues. But we atleast knew what both sides were fighting for. Now? We have rogue humans, super-lycans, vampires who have apparently switched places with the lycans. As they're now the ones who've gone underground. Afraid of the humans who have hunted down and killed many of their covens. And also, they still fear the lycans who are their sworn enemies.
However..."Awakening" does manage to spin off some new ideas for future sequels. See, Selene now has a daughter. Apparently, she's the product of Selene and Michael's "relationship". And she basically in "Awakening", is a rehash of Michael from "Underworld:Evolution". In part 2 (Evolution). We kept hearing about how "special", and "unique"...Michael was. Being the first vampire/lycan hybrid. And we all awaited the moment when he "hulked" up, and started owning everyone around him.
Now, Selene's daughter Nissa...in this movie, is hyped up the same way. By Selene and the supporting characters. Problem is though, all of this gets lost in the melee of Selene escaping her captors, and getting her and her daughter to "friendly" territory. Aka, finding a few vampires to hide out amongst. But every now and then, they manage to mention how "special" Nissa is. And how the lycans really want her badly for some reason. Which leads to another one of the films more darker and sinister questions.
Which is..."if the Lycans have been found out by humans. Then how do they have the numbers, and where-with-all...to launch all of these attacks against the vampires? And furthermore...have any plans for Nissa?" One of those things I mentioned above. About how the movie has opened up a few questions left for a potential fifth and sixth movie. But "Awakening" makes a mess of a lot of "could-be-cool" story points. And sacrifices them mostly all for gunfire-scenes, or pointless slow-mo stuff. And for some reason, which my guess is, to make the humans in the movie look "not" all evil?
The film throws in a young, gumshoe'esque detective. Played by Michael Ealy. Who apparently has been assigned to deal with vampire and lycan homicide investigations. How'd you like to have that job eh? At any rate, once he gets wind of the evil research folks plans to use Nissa as some jumping off point to create super-lycans. Well, he quickly hooks up with Selene to shut the bad guys down. Problem is, I would've preferred a more conflictive scenario between him and Selene. After all, she "is" a vampire. And could drain and kill him at any moment.
But I guess when you've made a film that clocks in at 76 total minutes of movie time? You've gotta keep the plot moving at a frenetic pace. Even if things start to not make sense along the way. And by the time things reach act 3, the film gets quite sloppy. For a number of reasons. The epic battles? Long gone. Selene and Michale vs. Viktor. In "Underworld". Selene and Michael vs. William and Markus in ''Underworld:Evolution"? EPIC! But in part 4, we get a noisy, goofy battle in an underground parking garage between Selene and a huge super-lycan.
A character who had potential to become the next Lucien possibly. But with how much character development the fourth installment lacked. That'll never happen. In the end, these movies are starting to remind me of "Final Destination" and its most recent sequels. Just like in the case of that franchise. You now just go to see the kills? In the case of the fourth "Underworld" movie. You just come to see Selene do wire-work.
And nothing more really. It looks like the story, and awesome character interaction between hero and villain. Villain and hero, is gone. But I'm not surprised. This was after all a "3D" sequel. And "3D" these days seems to be a cheap gimmick to cover up for bad horror sequel or remake scripts. And "Underworld:Awakening". Is no exception to that rule.
Positives:The action scenes are decent. Mostly when Selene battles the lycans. And at the end when she storms the research facility. The musical score was vintage, and the look of the movie felt very "Underworld".
Negatives:There was a lot here to build a strong story from. Problem was, they tried to squeeze 2-hours of story into a 76 minute movie! Unacceptable! The final battle was very weak also. This, coming from a franchise known for epic final battles...was very disappointing.
Overall:Two stars out of four.