Review of Underworld: Awakening (2012) by Quincytheodore — 10 Feb 2012

Dawdling to cinema, hoping that vampire movies haven't died yet after Twilight abused them, I came across Underworld : Awakening, or more precisely I looked happily at Kate Beckinsale's poster. Underworld franchise isn't always that good, it does provide some form of entertainment of blood loving undead. Sadly this movie isn't forgiving to your eyes, literally. Just to prove no matter how cool your protagonist is, a movie doesn't depend on them alone.

Underworld : Awakening is dark, I don't mean the vibe or atmosphere, but the whole movie is seemingly shot with dimmed lights, flickering lights, flashlights and unpaid electricity bill. I understand the need to get the theme gritty, but there is no reason why almost every light source in the movie is flickering. Some of the scenes are off putting due to the lack of clarity while being fast paced and 3D, and it's unfortunate because it has better action sequences that its predecessors. It also hampers the sense of uniqueness on most the settings, the set pieces aren't memorable and desperate for personality.

And then there's the bane of 3D, the camera angle. Majority of the scenes are Selene pointing gun or throwing stuffs at the screen, werewolves jumping at the audience, all in so recently cliched "Ohh, grenades are coming at youuu..." fashion. I'm so over that **** It should be noted that sequences are better to unfold organically than being tossed at my face. Granted there are few good ones without forced 3D, but they didn't appear after half of the movie.

Story is your typical humans versus vampires versus werewolves, if you've seen previous installments, you'd pretty much predict what's going to happen next. It's superficial and the relationships between characters could be portrayed better. Narrative isn't its strong suit, it kind of reminded me of Resident Evil frankly. Dialogues are not bad, with some childish taunts and remarks, not that witty but oddly fit the movie.

If you're looking for action, it won't disappoint. This is the bloodiest of the series, honestly it's bordering on unnecessary yet gleefully gory. It has some of the best kills I've seen for a while. The hits, bites and shots have good brutality and creativity as well. It slowly builds up and gets better throughout, but the ending might leave you hanging. That being said, I rather have them add more choreography than CG, it's more fluid that way.

Kate Beckinsale is a good choice for main protagonist. She has great physique, slender and also athletic in tightly wrapped black suit. It's quite impressive to see her in action and she also oozes calm confidence in her role. I think the directors made good use of her skinny body and seeming glittering suit to create elegant scene. While it's not a good movie, but at the very least, you can view Kate's lovely lithe body in 3D, that's gotta count for something.