Review of Underworld: Awakening (2012) by Ilja S — 05 Jan 2017

Following on from 'Evolution' we see both the lycan and vampire species under threat from humans after being hunted down to the brink of extinction.

You know what to expect here and boy do you get it in spades, slow motion high flying kills, double gun totting shooting, swishing blades, spurting blood and endless dumbass man fodder to thicken the brew. In short its exactly like the newer 'Resident Evil' films and you half expect Jovovich to pop up and take over. The super lycan serum which results in an uber lycan is pretty much the pinnacle of crapola in this franchise now, a total 'Resi Evil' idea type rip-off and it lowers the overall class of the whole series.

The plot isn't tooo bad, they manage to carry it on quite well and do a good job with keeping Corvin around despite Speedman not being involved, but the rest of the cast is pretty awful really. Charles Dance seems to be there only to provide a new Viktor type character and he clearly has difficulty speaking with his fangs in, he even tries some of Nighy's head movements. The rest of the supporting cast all come across as B-movie fare frankly, even previous vampire actor Rea can't help the cause.

The whole film feels very basic really. Some terrible CGI effects (worse than the previous films), bad greenscreen scenes, the lycans look like shaven rats, transformations are pretty dreadful looking, the 'vision' perspective looks crap and the young Eve looks like something outta 'Mortal Kombat'. Everything basically looks plastic and fake.

End of the day it does what it says on the tin and we all know what this film is about so I can't moan too much, but I just get the feeling they should of left it alone. They really have gone way way over the top with all the slow motion action sequences. The fact that Selene can kill endless lycans yet no one else can, just destroys your suspension of disbelief...even in this universe. Yes its an over the top fantasy flick but there is still a limit for any Mary Sue type characters, or there should be.

The thing is I can see this franchise really being completely milked into the depths of the 'straight to DVD' abyss. A shame as it is/was a half decent concept with some solid ideas and reasonable early entries. Alas this kind of W.S. Anderson-esque film making is becoming infuriating in a highly tacky way.