Hatchet reporter Arich Morales shares his latest movie experience.
“Underworld: Awakening” (2012)
There is finally another sequel to the “Underworld” series. After the 2009, “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans,” Kate Beckinsale is back and hasn’t lost her touch.
Directed by Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein, “Underworld: Awakening” continues to provide the action and thrills that made the franchise famous. The vampires and lycans, or werewolves, continue to wage war against one another, but now there’s a twist. Humans have discovered the two clans and plan to eradicate them. With this imminent threat, Selene (Beckinsale) must lead the battle against extinction.
Considering that nowadays vampires sparkle in the sun and werewolves like to walk around shirtless, it’s refreshing to see a film that places mythology in a modern context without doing much damage to the genre as a whole.
Though this movie is arguably the best installment in the series, some critics disagree, finding it too generic considering its predecessors and weak in its delivery of a quality screenplay. To some extent, they have a point. I found that some crucial characters just don’t get the amount of time on screen they deserve. And despite the added conflict with the human race, human characters don’t seem to have much of a presence in the film at all.
But the film makes up for these shortcomings with plenty of gore, action and guns to entertain the audience. You can’t help but feel entertained watching Beckinsale pull stunts like shoulder-bashing a van and reviving someone’s heart with her bare hands.
And though it’s a bit on the expensive side, the IMAX 3D version of this film is by far one of the best movie theater experiences I’ve had in a while. The intense reverberations and unmatched graphics make an unforgettable hour and a half.
But don’t worry. Judging by the ending, I think we can expect another installment is on the way.
Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror, Fantasy
Director: Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein
Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Rea, Michael Ealy, India Eisley
Release Date: Jan. 20
