Directed by: Måns Mårlind & Björn Stein
Written by: Len Wiseman, John Hlavin, J. Michael Straczynski, Allison Burnett
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Rea, Michael Ealy, Theo James, India Eisley
Rating: [3/5]
When blinded by pure hatred as the vampires and Lycans are in this world, they tend to develop this tunnel vision where they continually take aim at each other. Nothing else entirely matters as long as they get the opportunity to eliminate each other. However, with Underworld: Awakening we get an intriguing switch up to this dynamic when a common enemy enters the fray to make their lives difficult as done with the rest of nature. Yes, you guessed it, humans have entered the party in this third installment.
After humans have discovered the existence of vampires and Lycans these two mythical creatures have been paired down to near-extinction. Twelve years following her capture, Selene (Kate Beckinsale) escapes a facility studying her where she learns what has transpired and works with the remaining vampires to figure out where they go next as she begins to see visions from the perspective of someone else.
The inevitably of this centuries-long war between the vampires and Lycans bumping into humans came as a matter of time. These creatures operate in secret and in dark spaces mostly considering vampires cannot hang out in the sunlight but the amount of damage they cause undoubtedly raises eyebrows and now the time has come and humans do what they do best when it comes to nature, which is looking to destroy it for their own gain. Now Selene not only has to battle with Lycans constantly appearing causing problems for her, but now humans brandishing weapons trying to take her down serve as yet another obstacle in her way.
Having eliminated Markus and all of the ancient beings in the history of this centuries-long war, this series of films decides to look at the future and how these creatures will survive moving forward. As she wakes up from 12 years of containment, Selene has to figure out what happened to Michael as he’s not been seen and now figures out the person whose visions she sees is their daughter. A little wrench thrown into the story allowing for a more emotional appeal to these stories that have mostly relied on their action and world-building for providing entertainment. Selene must now reckon with having a daughter to care for and what it means to have a child that comes as a mix of a hybrid like Michael and herself, an enhanced vampire. All of these elements add something new to the story keeping it all a bit fresh.
Watching this film does contain some unintended humor, which feels odd to say considering the self-seriousness of these storylines but it never fails to tickle me that even with both species on the verge of extinction the vampires and Lycans cannot put away their rivalry to unite and survive against humanity. To think of what they could accomplish together should they put away their ancient differences that have all been severed at this point with all of the elders out of the way. However, no, they continue to fight each other despite the larger looming threat of the damage humanity can impose upon them. I suppose it aligns with history in the way many groups engage in the same way as they develop this tunnel vision but it all feels a bit silly.
Once again filled with many flaws and issues that I would not begrudge anyone from hating, Underworld: Awakening continues the trend of this franchise always finding a way to pull me in. Parts of this larger plot fall into outright laughable, but this third installment has just enough going for it that provides some baseline entertainment I can get behind. With this film, we get a major change in how this battle between the vampires and Lycans will operate. No longer do they stand atop the food chain and battle for supremacy. Now they each have dwindling numbers and must survive just like anything else sharing planet Earth with humans. Kate Beckinsale once again does what she needs to in this film helping contribute to something fresh regarding Selene’s daughter. While running on fumes at this point, there’s just enough in here to keep me coming back while even acknowledging the bevy of issues within its narrative structure.
Films with Josh 
