"Underworld: Awakening", the fourth chapter in the long-running cult action franchise, has been met with a relatively poor reception amongst fans of the series. And while I cannot endorse the plethora of highly negative reviews, I do have to comment that I can't help but understand the frustration. Because beneath the flashy visuals, outstanding action and another good turn from series star Kate Beckinsale... the film is just a very strange little footnote that doesn't quite fit in as well as it ought have.The concept is actually pretty inspired and genuinely fascinating, taking a hard left turn for the series that should have injected fresh blood into the narrative. After all, Selene's story and indeed the story of the "Underworld" saga seemed well-defined and generally complete by the end of the second installment, "Evolution." We needed something dramatic to happen in order to justify its continuation. And I do think that in better hands, the new concepts and ideas crafted in "Awakening" would have been an interesting fit for the franchise. But it just doesn't quite come together. Mainly because it's such a jarringly different film and the script is highly problematic.Quite simply... it just isn't the "Underworld" we remember so fondly from the previous three films. But I do think it has some value, even if it is a middling and mediocre revamp for the series.Shortly after the fall of Markus, mankind stumbles onto the existence of the Vampire and Lycan tribes, resulting in panic and hatred from the general public. It soon becomes priority number one for the governments of the world to eradicate the non-human entities that stalk the streets come nightfall. Both species are hunted down by specialized task-forces, brought to the brink of extinction. Selene (Beckinsale) is captured and placed in suspended animation, and it appears her beloved Michael is killed in an attack. She awakens twelve years later in a high-tech research facility owned by a corporation called "Antigen." Escaping, she soon enough discovers that while frozen, she evidently gave birth to a young Hybrid known as Eve (India Eisley), and together, mother and daughter will be forced into a fight for survival... and eventually a struggle for vengeance, as Selene seeks retribution for the cruel actions that tore her life apart.Directed by the duo of Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein from a script co-written by series creator Len Wiseman, if nothing else the movie is definitely visually exciting and endlessly stylish. It's certainly never a dull film, and it moves along with great speed and an urgent sense of pacing. Mårlind and Stein have a very interesting visual sensibility, and the film is consistently sleek and very modern, giving it an interesting sense of identity in comparison to the more stark and Gothic look of the other films. Their work in the action department is also a ton of fun, and the plethora of gun-battles and ferocious fight scenes are definitely a blast and a half to behold.The cast is fairly good for the most part. Series star Beckinsale is wonderful as always, and the film gives her some good material to work with. Selene is at her lowest in this story, and Beckinsale gives the character a great sense of pathos. While he might not quite be an adequate replacement for Scott Speedman's Michael, Theo James is game for some action as a new vampire sidekick in David. Stephen Rea brings some class as an evil research scientist who runs the corporation responsible for Selene's capture. And I really enjoyed the small supporting role by Michael Ealy as a police officer who becomes an unlikely ally for Selene's cause. Unfortunately, I found India Eisley underwhelming as Eve, and I thought she was probably the weakest link. I just didn't buy her in the role- especially when she goes full-on Hybrid during a few key action set pieces early on, and she doesn't get nearly enough presence in the story.Unfortunately, as has been the case with the series as a whole, the writing is quite wonky, and this is probably the most poorly-written film of the entire saga. The concept is actually very good and affords a lot of interesting developments for the world established in the series, but most of the new ideas at play are simply glossed over far too quickly to be effective. The set-up of the film- the vampires and Lycans being hunted to near extinction- should have been a much greater focus, but it's really only addressed in the film's montage-style opening credits sequence. Key characters like Michael are written off in the first act with barely a mention later on, which felt like a betrayal after his importance to the story and to Selene. (And that's not spoiling anything... it happens in the first five minutes.) And the film just moves too quickly for its own good. I also can't help but feel that the new tone and style established in the narrative conflicts a bit too much with what came before- it stops feeling like an "Underworld" movie within the first fifteen minutes, instead becoming a more standard and trendy revenge-thriller, which I found quite jarring.Nevertheless, great action, good performances and an interesting idea mostly salvage the film, and it's still a good bit of fun. If you're completely in love with the series, there's a good chance you'll come out hating "Underworld: Awakening" for being such a mediocre follow- up. But if you're like me and enjoy the films while being able to admit that they're not high art and have their share of flaws, you'll probably be able to forgive its more obvious faults and enjoy it for what it is... non-stop carnage starring a character we know and love.I give it a middle of the road 6 out of 10.

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.4/10

2012's "Underworld: Awakening" is probably the most underwhelming entry in the decade-old-and-counting horror/fantasy "Underworld" franchise. The first "Underworld" (2003) had an interesting premise that played on long-established werewolf and vampire mythology, and "Underworld: Evolution" (2006) was a worthy continuation of the first film's story. The prequel "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" (2009) has so far been unseen by me, and tonight I finally got the chance to see the fourth film in the series, "Underworld: Awakening."When I say that this film is underwhelming, I mean that it really doesn't offer anything new, except for really big action sequences and questionable special effects - which says a lot for a movie that cost an estimated $70 million to make (and that should probably make it the best movie in the series thus far). And Kate Beckinsale, as vampire "death dealer" Selene, is fantastic to look at in black leather and kicking a** all over the screen.The film's plot is really all over the place, and posits that baseline humanity has since learned of the existence of rival vampire and werewolf clans, and has enacted campaigns to exterminate both species. Selene is caught in the middle of all this, and she is captured and cryogenically frozen for 12 years. She soon escapes to go and find her vampire/werewolf-hybrid lover Michael (Scott Speedman, in archive footage). But Selene isn't alone: she has a human cop named Sebastian (Michael Ealy) and a fellow vampire named David (Theo James) helping her out, and the mysterious child Eve (India Eisley) who also holds a secret that may have the future of both the vampire and werewolf clans at her disposal."Underworld: Awakening" is very clearly the low point in the series, as directed by Marlind & Stein, who pump up the action and gory violence but also leave out the plot and characterization - which is really what made the first two movies in the series so great.Best to just watch this one once to see what it's about, and then leave it at that.6/10

I liked the previous movie in the franchise because they focused on the war between the Vampires and the Werewolves / Lycans and with every new entry in the series they uncovered new pieces of the past and at the same time they moved forward in the storyline.This time the movie goes in a completely different direction and tells us that humans found out the Vampires and Lycans exist and they seek to kill all mutants. This could have been a good direction if they would have chosen to use this as a tool to show any progress in the story and not as the story of the movie as a whole. The story is very generic, Selene escapes from a place she was held in, kills Lycans , end of movie. That's it, the only thing the movies does it's that it hints us what's going to happen in the sequel. I see this as a missed opportunity, they could have showed us the Vampires uniting with the Lycans against humans or show us Vampires and Lycans fighting for their rights or anything else but instead, they have shown use how Selene kills MORE Lycans.