Underworld Awakening 3D is a lot like Resident Evil Retribution in that it takes a Lycan and keeps on tickin'! What could possible whet our appetites more than the lovely Kate Beckinsale decked out in skin tight vinyl pants? Kate Beckinsale in 3D clad in said aforementioned contour-fitting pants of course! The Underworld franchise has been reborn and there are sure to be more installments on the way just as soon as new scripts are approved. For the present, let's concentrate on Awakening in all of its intrigue and fascination.
The Lycans are coming, the Lycans are coming, oh wait, there are already here. When the reels begin turning, our vampiress heroine (Beckinsale as Selene) is busy trying to escape an undead creature extermination courtesy of the federal government. When vaccinations and barricades fail to prevent the spread of the "disease", martial law is declared and all werewolfism breaks loose. Selene is devoted to escaping with her lover Michael Corwin (Scott Speedman) when a concussion grenade intervenes. The two are separated and ostensibly executed. Twelve years later however, things have changed. Thought to be long dead, the Lycans are rising in secret and their experimental serums have provided them a new power.
Dr. Jacob Lane (Stephen Rea) has pulled the proverbial wool over the eyes of the world. Leading a group of scientists that happen to be latent Lycans, Dr. Lane has assembled an entire team of geneticists to work at a facility called Antigen. The experimenters have several vampire and Lycan test subjects. The two most featured are a cryogenically frozen Selene, and her newly discovered daughter Eve (India Eisley). India frees her mother by defrosting her and the two manage to barely escape Antigen, but not without raising the awareness of the police force. Detective Sebastian (Michael Ealy) suspects that Lycans are thriving and that something is seriously wrong in the state of Denmark as it were.
In order to survive the Lycan onslaught (made more inimical by their size and strength), Selene seeks shelter in a nearby coven. There she finds an ally in David (Theo James), but the rest of the vampires are content to survive in hiding. Her escape to the coven brings about a war between the threadbare vampires and the newly reinforced Lycans. Between the homo sapiens purging the undead and the eternal conflict between vampires and Lycans, there is enough action and storytelling to entertain practically any moviegoer.
Forgive my hyper-libidinous dialogue, but Kate Beckinsale is flat our beautiful and physically fit as a gymnast. I have been a fan since her romantic drama film Serendipity alongside John Cusack. Michael Ealy plays a sleuth with a great deal of style, and Theo James is badass. In order to extend the franchise, directors Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein have deviated from the previous course and gone the route of Resident Evil. There is no rational reason why movie fans should have to suffer never-ending series that are fairly repetitive and in which the conclusions are foregone. I will have to write the studio a missive about the state of redundancy in Hollywood. The only criticism I can offer about this new Underworld is that vampires are now suddenly sunlight proof. This is a pure mimic of Twilight which I believe is an absurd mistake out loud. Underworld Awakening 3D is an entertaining new twist on an old story. Though frenetic enough to make one's hair fall out, there is never a dull moment which keeps us in our seats and entertained. This might be worth the price of admission if you smuggle in Real D 3D glasses ahead of time.
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