Underworld: Blood Wars (2016)

Visually has a lot of the things _Underworld_ is known for, but in terms of quality? Well if you liked _Awakening_, you'll like this. Because they're basically the same film. I for one liked neither.

_Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product._...

Some things will never change within the tedious and surprisingly long-running sci-fi/horror saga **Underworld** film franchise. The vampires will still feature sharp fangs that can pierce a hardened leather sofa with one bite and the werewolves will be hairier than the local women’s wig shop. Of course the curvaceous heroine of this Gothic gumball machine of a flick–_Love & Friendship’s_ Kate Beckinsale–will predictably wear leather-clad attire that will cling to her shapely body tighter than a preschooler hanging on to his mother’s leg because he is scared to enter the classroom for the very first time. What also is expected not to change anytime soon is the sluggish intrigue, overblown supernatural creatures acting more obnoxious than your drunk Uncle Jake wearing a bra at the...

You know what to expect by now.

This series has been going on so long now that this movie almost comes across as a throwback, since it's still drenched in all the post-MATRIX visual cliches.

Beckinsale is as remarkably photogenic as ever, but the camera never lingers on her face for more than about two seconds. The running time is as tight as her costume, and it feels rushed.

We have a few decent fight scenes but the gunplay is just a mush of noise with very little in the way of cool choreography.

Still, there's fun to be had watching the gore and all the scenery-chewing that's going on....

This franchise was a thing back then when the Matrix phenomenon was at force but now a days they should let it rest, otherwise a cluster of nonsense, much like the Resident Evil movie franchise, it is sure to become.

In other words the movie ain't that bad but this entry is just franchise milking at this point.

I wouldn't mind if it would be made a video game franchise though....

I think it is fairly safe to say that if you did not like any of the other installments in the Underworld movie series then you will not like this one.

As usual with these kind of movies it is one where you preferably switch of most higher brain functions before watching and just sit down and enjoy the show. The movie is certainly not a masterpiece when it comes to story and script. Actually the script is, at times, fairly crappy. There are for example a sequence were the Lycans are attacking the stronghold castle of the Vampires and the script writer taught it was a good idea to just let them drive straight into the center of the castle and breach the door before they got challenged. What the f…?

On the whole the script is a typical Hollywood B-movie concoction that holds little m...

**The mission Eve has begun!**

Like any guys from before the 90s, I was too a big fan of Beckinsale. There's no one can match her beauty, even to her age of today. That does not mean all her films are good. She has stopped doing good films a while ago. Every time when her films get released, I was hoping for her comeback like the old days, either a pure drama or an action film. No, not this film. It is what, the fifth in the franchise and the feature film debut for the directress of the television series.

As always, worth watching for Kate. The story continued, and it focused on the remaining vampires fighting for their survival against their arch-rival, Lycans. That's where the Selene caught between. But this time, it was about looking for her daughter, Eve, who holds the key to the...

Kate Beckinsale is back as Selene in Underworld:Blood Wars. Director Anna Foerster helpfully recaps the Underworld franchise, useful as they are in main forgettable films apart from the vision of Beckinsale in skin tight black leather.

Blood Wars also gives us a lovely vision of Lara Pulver's treacherous vampire Semira in a dress that is just about held up by tape on her breasts.

The Lycans led by new leader Marius are slaughtering vampires are on the brink of victory. Marius pursues Selene as he needs her daughter's blood.

Selene meanwhile has tried to make amends with the vampire elders with the help of David and his father but soon finds herself betrayed.

The plot is rather silly and illogical, the action is at least fast and furious, the CGI is a little cheap looking....

Unashamedly, I really quite enjoyed the first two films in this franchise. The next two were poor and poorer still, and this one really is the nadir. Kate Beckinsale reprises her role as the rogue outcast "Selene", only this time she must ally with the swarthy "David" (Theo James) who is the son of vampire supremo "Thomas" (Charles Dance). Thing is, the ambitious "Semira" (Lara Pulver) and her militant toyboy "Varga" (Bradley James) have other plans for their coven - and in the face of the resurgent and emboldened Lycan "Marius" (Tobias Menzies) the battle lines are drawn for some internecine plotting, backstabbing and all out war. To be fair, it doesn't hang around and Anna Foerster doesn't let the black leather-clad Miss Beckinsale keep her feet on the ground for long (or very often) but...