Underworld: Blood Wars

Underworld: Blood Wars is the kind of mainstream horror I want to champion, but lackluster technical aspects nullify Kate Beckinsale's kick-ass performance.

This has been a regular payday for Beckinsale and she certainly gives it her all, but you have to wonder why she bothers, certainly now that we know what she can do with more interesting material.

There’s a story, and a mythology, and a prestige actress who knows how to push moodiness to the point that, in this series, it’s just about her only mood, but none of it, in the end, gets in the way of the splatter.

Menzies should be just the spark to bring Underworld back to life, but it doesn’t happen. Screenwriter Cory Goodman (The Last Witch Hunter) isolates Marius from Selene and the other major players so that Menzies is left adrift, like a great fighter without a worthy sparring partner.

Blood Wars is tragically bereft of the pulp verve this nonsense needs to be tolerable.

Selene seems ready to put this story behind her for most of Underworld: Blood Wars, and it’s hard not to wish that for Beckinsale, as well.

Like the four franchise fillers that preceded it, Underworld: Blood Wars is undoubtedly impervious to bad reviews. What it needs is a stake through the heart.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

OK movie. A bit lacking a strong Victor like role and story could be better.

I enjoy this series and know it has limitations in script quality and acting so i call it a guilty pleasure. But, despite it's weaknesses, I would rather watch this a dozen times than suffer through another JJ film like SW7/8/9. So, in context, this film had replay value that many billion-dollar films do not have. And based on how stupid the average American is, popular opinion means nothing to me. This is a mediocre film that i will watch again some day. It is on par with 30 Days and Daybreakers, but not as good as Only Lovers.

I’m going to warn you that this is a subjective review, I’m just not interested in the world they built in the previous films and will be reviewing it accordingly. I found all of the characters really uninteresting and they are all the same, moody and humourless devoid of personality. The action and fighting has no danger or style or time to breathe which makes it boring to watch. Every conflict is quickly resolved without any real reason or impact. I’m actually going to single out the music as generic and often out of place making an already creatively bankrupt film somehow worse. I know there is a market for this kind of film but I can’t help but think how much of a waste of money it is when they could have told an original story with the same amount of mindless action. I didn’t like the sound design. The editing though I actually liked, they made the best of a bad film. Most of the film looks like they made it entirely in a studio but at least the special effects are good. When everyone double crosses everyone else it is not interesting or shocking, it’s just bad melodrama. The final fight is actually okay but not worth watching the rest of the film for.

Better than the prequel but still very bad. At this point they just seem like they don´t know what to do anymore.