Underworld: Awakening (2012)

Underworld: Awakening (2012)

4/10

Starring:
Kate Beckinsale
Sandrine Holt
Theo James
Michael Ealy


Directed by: Måns Mårlind

Prior to watching this flick, I had made up my mind that this was going to be a fully loaded action-packed movie, so I should not be looking for an airtight script or plot. Well, the movie met my need. While the movie didn’t fall short of action scenes, fights, and stunts, it did fall short on the purpose of it all, with some bad pacing, very loose script and some not so fantastic acting or effects.

As all franchises go, studios have a saying, "we ain’t gonna stop milking it till all the milk is gone" (this is just me talking). Because in this movie all I saw was a serious-looking lady walking up and down, jumping here and there looking for something or someone as she is led by flashes (memory flashes).

The thing that gets me is when you put the story together, it’s just a lame excuse to leave openings for future instalments.

Awakening tells the tale of humans (us) finally realizing that werewolves and vampires aren’t just myths. The moment that truth breaks out, the government launches a full-on purge to wipe them off the face of the earth. In the chaos, Selene (Kate) gets captured, locked up, and frozen like some science experiment. Fast forward 12 years, she wakes up, confused and pissed, and tries to piece together what happened. Along the way, she finds out she has a daughter, who’s now being hunted by the Lycans. That’s when things really start to spiral, but yeah, I’ll stop there.

Underworld: Awakening is a 2012 horror movie and the fourth instalment of the Underworld series. Produced by Len Wiseman who has been with the series since its inception in 2003, and the movie has always starred his wife Kate Beckinsale as Selene, a vampire. It is the highest grossing of the Underworld series and was also a financial success on its own.

All the Underworld movies have not been able to score higher than 31% on Rotten Tomatoes, all because the movie just doesn’t play to your intellect. It’s a movie you go watch and make sure you leave your brain at home.

In this fourth instalment, the character portrayal by some of the other cast could use some work, but one thing I guarantee you is that the cinematography is excellent. The action scenes are bloody with enough stunts.

It was cool to see Selene’s (Kate) daughter go postal, that I enjoyed. 

The movie is made for Underworld fans and will only appeal to them. Other viewers are not going to have a good time watching a weak plot unfold..