Review of Underworld: Awakening (2012) by Scott S — 26 Apr 2013

The Underworld series has grown on me over the years. Even though the premiss is promising: a long lasting underground feud between vampires and werewolves, it has always been a little problematic in the telling. For one reason or another the production seems to get very close to it's objective but never fully delivers.

Underworld: Awakening is the 4th instalment of the franchise and the least desirable. This film picks up where the 2nd film left off. I like the idea the writers are working with but the execution is poor on so many levels I'm not sure where to begin...

Underworld 4 breaks from one of it's core ideas, humans in large part have no idea this war between vampires and werewolves is taking place. If nothing else that core idea is a great foundation to build a story from. To do away with it, as they do in #4 is like reducing the entire series to trash and is a direct insult to the fans of this series. Seeing as this is a successful series, delivering anything under the 2 hour mark is just wrong. And once again, terrible actors are paired with good ones but at least they are on par with the other films in this regard. Two stars out of five may be a bit too generous. Then again, the main character Selene is well written and it was enough to want take a peek at what #4 offered.

The third film being a prequel was a ballsy move, I thought. The writers and producers cared just enough to want to share, in full, the mythology or history being told in the first and second film. Picking up where the second film left off is a logical place for the forth film to begin...so,where and how did Underworld: Awakening go so wrong? For it surely seems everyone in this production was fast asleep.