Saturday, January 21, 2012

Underworld: Awakening Review

Hello Internet!  I'd like to preface this review by saying that of the three previous Underworld films, I had only seen the third, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.  And I didn't really like it.  It was actually at the very bottom of my film rankings of 2009...at 63rd place.  Needless to say I didn't have very high expectations for the film.  The second trailer started to get me excited for it.  Then I saw the film.  And I enjoyed it way more than I had anticipated.

The whole film just clicked for me.  Its nothing too spectacular.  Its not terrible either.  Its a perfectly serviceable action/horror film that I found highly entertaining.  The narrative itself is quite small in scope and only spans two days' time.  While there isn't anything inherently bad with that choice, I couldn't help but want a larger quest or mission to play out.  The last Resident Evil film (its fairly easy to compare these two Screen Gems' franchises) has the type of scale that I was hoping for.  The story is interesting enough, if not fairly predictable, and kept me engaged throughout the fast-paced eighty-eight-minute run time.  I honestly could've watched another half-hour or so and been perfectly happy.

The action is fairly well-done, as are the visual effects.  I quite enjoyed the blend of digital/practical effects for the lycans.  Having not seen the previous films, I also was fascinated by the futuristic werewolf/vampire-killing technology employed throughout the film.  I would've never thought of a silver-dust-filled grenade that upon inhaling, would cause the lycans to burn from within.  All three of the major action set-pieces were highly entertaining, with the final battle being the most fun to watch.

Kate Beckinsale is great at kicking tons of lycan ass.  The rest of the supporting cast does a decent job with the material.  I felt that relative new-comer India Eisley did a great job of holding her own against older, more seasoned veteran actors.  And she kicked a bunch of lycan ass, too.  And it was awesome.

As you can tell I quite enjoyed Underworld.  I tried to turn my brain off while I was watching it and I very much think that helped quite a bit.  When I start to question the logic of the film (where does Selene keep her ammo magazines?  If she doesn't carry extra ammo, why the hell not?  Why doesn't she keep a sweet sword with her at all times?) I start to realize the many cracks and flaws in this fourth Underworld movie.  And I don't really want to.  Will it make my top-ten when the year is up?  Most definitely not.  But that doesn't mean it isn't entertaining.

Underworld: Awakening is a perfectly fine, entertaining, action film.

The Bearded Bullet is off to watch the first two Underworld movies...

1 comments:

  1. This is getting repeated. Action sequences here are not for promoting story but story is for promoting only action. Emotional bond is least, unable to generate any touching moment during the mother-daughter reunion. Munch popcorn during the show and enjoy the action if you must ....

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