Review of Underworld Awakening

My story “Restless” is now available in the newest issue of “Dark Eclipse.”
 
And now, here's my review of the recently-premiered vampire flick, Underworld: Awakening.

I had very low expectations for this movie. So low, in fact, that I already had a pithy title in mind for this article. But that pithy title will not make it to this page, because this movie kicked a surprising amount of ass.

Awakening is the fourth installment of the Underworld franchise, and it sort of picks up where the second movie, Evolution, left off (apparently, no one shall ever speak of the third movie, Rise of the Lycans, again). J. Michael Straczynski, who created the critically-acclaimed Babylon 5, helped out on Awakening’s screen play. I’ve never seen Babylon 5, but apparently his help was a good thing. Underworld: Awakening’s plot was more coherent than the franchise’s earlier installments (though next to Underworld: Evolution, this is saying very little).

Explaining the plot of Underworld: Awakening, however, still makes about as much sense as a detailed description of the stitching of a racy piece of clothing. Here’s what you need to know: In the eternal war between Vampires and Lycans (basically werewolves), Kate Beckinsale is the beautiful death-dealer Selene, a vampire trained to hunt lycans. To her great peril, Selene feels compelled to proctect a vampire/lycan hybrid from each side, and humans have nearly exterminated both species. If you feel like something’s left out, don’t worry. The characters, premise, and movement provide a framework for the action sequences, which do the trick with a bloody fervor. For further reference, here’s the trailer: 



If you have trouble loading the video, go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUcrbUCWKQc

My low expectations evaporated because watching Selene fight her way through the movie was so much damn fun. Kate Beckinsale is not an actress of great range, but she does Selene very well. It’s her facial expressions that really do it for me. Go to the trailer. At about :36 she’s sliding across the floor after slicing her way down a hall filled with armed guards. Her eyes and mouth are wide, but it’s like she’s releasing a breath. Selene doesn’t enjoy killing humans, a big contrast to the look of exhilaration she gets after killing a lycan (1:02 in the trailer). Then there’s the scared-as-bejeezus look she gets at the 1:42 mark. This is more acting than a consummate action hero like Jason Statham do in most of his oeuvre.

In the final analysis, I will say that this is why I largely prefer female protagonists to male ones in my action movies. A lot of this has to do with our expectations of gender. Strong men aren’t supposed to be emotional yet all women are assumed to be more in touch with their feelings than men. On one level, this is gender-stereotype bullshit, but as a curious byproduct I find woman action heroes more relatable.


In a nutshell, I’m willing to forgive the makers of the Underworld series a lot because watching Selene kick ass reminds me of the thrill I get whenever Buffy Summers slays a vampire. For the same reason, I cheered when I saw this trailer: 


If you're having trouble, click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRmWLqrJkz4


Yep. That's Mila Jovavich killing zombies, just like she did in the first four Resident Evil movies. 

Fight on, gals. Pretty Please.