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Opening with a three-minute reminder of where we’ve been with the previous installments, Underworld Awakening, rather surprisingly, soon ditches its celebrated mythology of werewolf vs. vampire and lets the human beings weigh in on the bloody war between the fangs. Threatened by their unholy existence, it is safe to assume that we don’t like them. At all. Yes, the humans have stopped killing each other and have turned their collective attention to wiping the planet clean of pesky leather-wearing vampires and hairy-hooved werewolves. Turns out, at least in this reality, we never got that certain Twilight fever…
Welcome to the future, Selene.
Written by Len Wiseman, John Hlavin, J. Michael Straczynski, and Allison Burnett, Underworld Awakening opens twelve years after the events of Underworld: Evolution and jettisons our beloved Death Dealer, Selene (Kate Beckinsale), into the future after what is now known by creature denizen survivors as “the Purge”. It's a hollow future; one without Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman, who does not return for this one) and soon-to-be discovered daughter Eve (India Eisley). Scratching your head? Don't. Uncovering the mysteries of the future and what has happened to Michael is what the film covers and Selene, being the wicked hybrid immortal that she is, quickly discovers exactly why she has been kept frozen and what that means to vampire and lycan alike.
Topping itself with moments of dynamic acrobatics and sheer theatrical badassdom, Underworld Awakening streamlines itself without the logic that grounded and guided the previous entries and makes for a brevity that its snazzy 3D conversion tries to cover. It doesn’t and, yes, we notice. Flash and dash aerials swell our eyes...
…the brain eventually catches up. Light and forgettable, Underworld Awakening puts fury first and comes off as a favorable mess.
The cast swells, too. With the inclusion of Stephen Rea, Theo James, and Charles Dance, Underworld Awakening keeps adding to its impressive list of British actors (previously we had Michael Sheen, Bill Nighy, Derek Jacobi) who are more than willing to sink their teeth into its pulpy mass (or mess). Of course, that’s one of the fun factors of this on-going series. Who’d they get this time? It’s the Harry Potter of Vampire lore…or something sticky like that. This time, though, American actor Michael Ealy gets a chance to make his character, Detective Sebastion, who discovers the whole truth of the shadowy human conspiracy, a lasting part of the Underworld franchise.
With snappy (and shallow) 3D direction from the Swedish duo of Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein (Shelter), the film zips along at a pulse-pounding pace and, of course, takes itself far too seriously at times. To be fair, the movie does allow for a bit of humor to creep in, you just have to recognize it as such. We chuckle at the convenience of placement when Selene’s tight-fitting leather outfit is discovered next to her cryogenic prison (waiting there all this time? Impossible). Then we quickly move along. Yet, to be a part of the franchise, the film has to be as moody as a pair of hybrid eyes and it, too, deals out atmosphere with a heavy hand.
Depending on your view on the importance of the mythology, Underworld Awakening could be your favorite of the four or the least liked. Myself, I found its briskness to be a bit of a relief after the myth-soaked richness of the last installment. Certainly, there are fair criticisms to have about its single-minded production and overall ultraviolet sleekness, but Underworld Awakening captures what the series has always been aiming for: popcorn B-movie escapism at its supernaturally bloodiest with only the tiniest of earthly parallels.
And, if the ending is any sort of hint, the fifth film will finally bring about a conclusion to these future shocked supernatural events. Blow out the torches. Put away the stakes. Underworld isn’t ready for the lynch mob just yet…
...Selene and company will return.
MPAA Rating: 
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