UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING starts six months
after the ending of UNDERWOLRD: EVOLUTION. Then it jumps forward by 12
years as Selene awakens to find 12 years has passed and she has been frozen in a lab.
She discovers she has a daughter named Eve that Antigen and the Lycans want.
She breaks out of the lab and goes after the other subject who has escaped which she thinks is Michael.
UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING is a welcome start
to revitalizing the UNDERWORLD franchise that leaves it open for another sequel (due to Scott Speedman saying he won't return
for this film and the story manages to get around that to use that to the story's advantage).
Kate Beckinsale still kicks butt as the Death Dealer Selene who is thrust into the aftermath of a world she knew might
come one of these days- a world where Vampires and Lycans are hunted by humans.
Dr. Lane and his company Antigen are supposedly developing a vaccine for vampirism and lycanthropy, but their motives
are far from pure as they allow Selene to escape with the purpose of leading Antigen back to Eve.
UNDERWOLRD: AWAKENING is heavy on style
and action. The plot elements are enough to propel it forward between action
scenes. Kate Beckinsale still rocks
as Selene and looks as good. The cast does a good job while I am amazed
Kate has an eight person entourage for this film (driver, two trainers, stunt double, costumer, make-up, hair stylist, personal
assistant) . Kate shines above the
rest of the cast still. I wish they developed the Vampires and Lycans more. The first three UNDERWORLD films gave more character development with every
character compared to this new entry.
The
3D does make the film a little too dark while you can also almost watch this film without the 3D glasses. I am split on whether they shot this in 3D or upconverted it to 3D, but it is a very flat looking
3D film. What is the purpose of showing it in 3D when it looks just as
good in regular 2D with the film using nothing of the 3D process to make the action scenes pop more. I think Sony Pictures needs to stop upconverting their films to 3D because it is just a way of charging
more with the ticket prices and making the images look darker. They need
to dial back on the 3D (I will have to suffer through the new GHOST RIDER and SPIDER-MAN in 3D so they can raise ticket prices
and opening weekend grosses).
If you are turned off by the 3D process,
track it down in regular 2D or wait for the Blu-ray (or DVD). Otherwise, you
will enjoy the latest sequel if you're an UNDERWORLD fan even though it isn't as good as the first two films which had a little
more substance to them.
this movie review is (c)1-22-2012
David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments
to feedback@enterline-media.com
