Selene’s Return Makes Latest Underworld a Kitschy Kick
It has been 12 years since humans discovered the existence of vampires and lycans (that’s werewolves to you and I), 12 long years that a captured Selene (Kate Beckinsale) has been stuck in a deep cryogenic sleep kept from the outside world and clueless to the mass genocide that has taken place. Suddenly awakened by an entity those in charge cryptically refer to as ‘Subject Two,’ the one-time Death Dealer finds herself part of a world she does not know chasing a ghost, her fellow hybrid lover Michael, those she encounters say is dead.
Kate Beckinsale is back firing as Selene in Underworld Awakening
© Sony Pictures / Screen Gems
Who am I kidding, the point of Underworld Awakening isn’t to spend a lot of time on the convoluted (and I would say purposefully silly) plot but instead to reignite a once popular B-grade R-rated fantasy franchise left in something of a coma after the underwhelming prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans quickly came and went in 2009. The return of Beckinsale, the promise of this series moving into unexplored territory, the idea that it can once again become the giddy, somewhat sloppy guilty pleasure it was for two previous adventures, that’s what’s most important here, and to say the film more or less rises to the (somewhat low) expectations is a definite understatement.
Listen, it does help if you are a fan of both Underworld and Underworld: Evolution. It helps if you can’t help but smile a little bit when you think about Beckinsale and costar Scott Speedman running around murkily lit gothic locations ripping out throats, shooting off handguns and otherwise mutilating just about everything in sight. It helps if you get a kick out of seeing esteemed actors like Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy slumming in material far below their respective talents yet having a gigantic ball doing it nonetheless.
Happily, I can answer yes to all of those statements, and I’m not even slightly embarrassed to admit I had a grand old time taking in all 88 quickly paced minutes that Underworld Awakening had to offer. Stephen Rea shows up as a mysterious scientist obsessed with using Selene to foster his secret, world dominating goals, while the great Charles Dance pops up briefly as a vampire coven elder who believes running and hiding is the best defense they have against a world determined to wipe them out. Other new faces include Michael Ealy as a city detective not so consumed with vampire/lycan hatred as his brethren, Theo James as a fellow bloodsucker who sees the newly arrived Death Dealer as some sort of savior destined to save the species and India Eisley as a secretive youngster whose connection to Selene and Michael could potentially change the face of the planet and the battle for supremacy forever.
I’d say more, but there really isn’t much of a point. The action scenes are directed with histrionic yet surprisingly understandable flare by wunderkind Swedish directors Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein, the pair having a visual sensibility that fits in with the first two Underworld adventures yet also feels decidedly its own. The action scenes have a visceral kick that’s a heck of a lot of fun, and while the plot itself (co-written by Len Wiseman, the guy who helped start all this nonsense in the first place) is nothing more than nonsensical fluff intent on jump starting a new trilogy that doesn’t make things any less fun.
Don’t get me wrong, Underworld Awakening isn’t some sort of fantasy-action masterpiece or a movie I’ll be waxing poetic about come next December. It’s nothing more than a late winter guilty pleasure, a violence-filled spectacle of excess and enthusiasm that plays exceedingly well to an audience receptive to that sort of thing. And even if the finale sets up a sequel we might not ever get the chance to see, promising the return of a character noticeably absent for proceedings this time around, that doesn’t mean I enjoyed myself any bit less. Selene’s return is a welcome one as far as I’m concerned, and if the Death Dealer feels the need to dole out some more justice a couple of years hence that possibility wouldn’t bother me in the least bit whatsoever.
Film Rating: êê1/2 (out of 4)
Additional Links
