Underworld: Blood Wars

Just in case viewers of forgotten what happened in previous instalments, or not watched them all, this film opens with a brief precis of what happened before. This explains how our protagonist, the vampire soldier Selene has had her daughter hidden somewhere even she doesn't know and how both vampires and lycans are determined to find her as they believe it will help them end the war between the two species.

Protagonist Selene is wanted by the lycans, who believe she is the key to finding her daughter and the vampires who what revenge for what she did in a previous film. As the war is going so badly for the vampires she is granted a pardon and invited to help train more vampire soldiers, known as Death Dealers, for the upcoming battle against the lycans who are led by Marius, a smarter than typical lycan. Unfortunately she is betrayed and only survives thanks to the actions of David, the son of a senior vampire... before the film is over they will have to fight both lycans and vampires in a number of battles.

Having enjoyed the first three films, but not seeing the fourth, I was glad of the short but effective recap at the start of the film. The story might not be the greatest but it served the purpose of justifying several really impressive fight scenes both between vampires and lycans and between rival vampires. Some of these were one on one or small scale, others were battles with numerous combatants. All of these scenes were pretty exciting and featured good CGI. Selene continues to be a fine protagonist and David provides good support for her; Kate Beckinsale and Theo James are solid in these roles. Vampire Semira and lycan Marius are decent antagonists played by Lara Pulver and Tobias Menzies. Overall a solid enough supernatural action movie; hardly a must see but a fun way to pass an hour and a half if you like the genre.

Seriously. If my title isn't enough for you to rush out and watch this film then nothing is. I'm a dude which means my haircare knowledge extends from Head N Shoulders to baseball cap, but in that climactic scene when Kate appears with her new 'do, I swear I went full tilt hairdresser and renewed my subscription to Cosmo. The point being, Underworld is, has, and always shall be, about the eye candy.

Whether "eye candy" comes in the form of slick vinyl body suits, strappy skin-showing mesh, or guns the size of your head, "Underworld: Blood Wars" delivers. But that's not all it delivers. Here in the final Beckinsale chapter of the franchise (according to her), we see a welcome return to the twisty turny plot intrigue that defined the original. Sure it begins with the same ole same ole: Selene (Kate) is being hunted by Lycans, Vampires and everyone short of a mob of duck hunters in Iowa. We think this is just going to be another mindless action romp except with A-list fashion designers. But stick around past the halfway mark when things get interesting, loyalties criss-cross, and this film becomes worthy of being the final Underworld chapter.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The plot is about Selene on the run because both Lycans and vampires want to find the location of her daughter from part 4 "Awakening". With an interesting spin though, we realize in the first scene that Selene herself doesn't even know where her daughter is. Thus everyone is chasing her for nothing, and Selene herself doesn't even see the point in running. This is a subtle shift in Selene's character where, in earlier films, she was driven by a strong desire to fight. But here in the final chapter, she is at her most nihilistic: faithless, apathetic and downright suicidal. It adds tremendous depth to her character as we see that she's no longer a stereotypical superhero driven by truth, justice and the American way; but rather, she is reaching rock bottom and wondering what's the point in all these movies.

If that angle appeals to you, I think you'll really dig this flick. Like I said it's subtle, but once you realize what's going on in Selene's head, her character arc takes on an interesting new dimension. I can't help but think of the cool 90s trilogy "The Prophecy" where the archangel Gabriel (Christopher Walken) undergoes a profound evolution from start to finish. Here in Underworld we see Selene undergo a similar transformation as she comes to grips with her own personal story.

Rounding out the tale we have a pair of truly badass adversaries. On the Lycan side is Marius, an intelligent, strategic villain who keeps you guessing as to whether he's a cruel monster or actually someone with a logical, efficient solution to the endless conflict. No one even seems to know where he came from, but that's part of the surprise. On the vampire side is Semira, the coldest, most sinister and sexiest vampire since Ingrid Pitt played Elizabeth Bathory (or for you real old schoolers, how about Amanda Donohoe in "Lair of the White Worm"? homina homina). Thus the film presents one of the greatest 3-way conflicts since The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

That, for my money, was enough to justify watching this flick. But when you throw into the mix the wardrobe and hair departments, I mean... *mic drop*

*picks up mic* Um, in other words, check it out.

It's Kate Beckinsale again in tight leather! Come on people, pop in the Blu-Ray or stream it and load up the popcorn. Take off the critic's thinking cap for a night. Don't expect too much with a sophisticated plot or story line. Do expect some Lycan ass-kicking from Selene as usual, and enjoy the movie for what it is - a war between vampires and werewolves. The CGI could have been better, but did I not mention Selene/Kate in tight leather?

Does justice to the Underworld sage in what is apparently the last outing for Kate (let's hope it's not true). It has all the fun, action, mythology and sexiness that we the viewers deserve.

Enjoyed the saga immensely :)

In the 2006 film CLICK (a throwback to a strange era when Adam Sandler was considered one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood) a very hammy Chris Walken, playing the Devil, takes a moment to tell Sandler (playing the husband) of Beckinsale, in all seriousness, and with a straight face, "Your wife is smoking hot." Which in a nutshell explains the staying power of Underworld I, a film I have seen perhaps 8 times so far. It combined a kickass script with great action sequences and featured Kate as perhaps the sexiest vampire in film history.

Flash forward through several sequels (too many) and we still have Kate ... but little else. One of the worse scripts in recent memory, so bad it verily fails the late Roger Ebert's "20 minute test" (if a film fails to hook up in the first 20 minutes, leave the theatre).

Horrible story, horrible characters, and overall a pretty rotten movie.

Advice -- go see the first one all over again. You'll thank me in the morning,