It is not secret that I am a fan of pretty much any movie that can keep my attention for over an hour. I've seen a lot of movies that I haven't had a chance to write about in the last month or so: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The Adventures of Tintin, Hugo, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. All of them were great, although if I had to pick a favorite or three I would say that Hugo, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Dragon Tattoo were incredible! That brought the end of 2011 in terms of movies, and it was a great ending!
I started 2012 off with a movie that is right up my alley, a dumb action movie that is the 3rd (or 4th, depending on if you count it) installment in a franchise, Underworld: Awakening! As far as the movie goes, it takes place after the events of Underworld: Evolution. Vampiric Death Dealer Selene (Kate Beckinsale) and Vampire/Lycan Hybrid Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman) are on the run after killing the Vampire coven leaders who had marked them both for death. Awakening starts with the purge, when humans were made aware of the Vampire and Lycan threat and have gone on an offensive in order to kill both species. Selene and Michael get separated and Selene is held hostage for 12 years where she is kept in stasis, she awakens (get it?) and learns that almost all vampires and lycans were killed during the purges. She then meets "subject two", a young girl who is also a hybrid, much like Michael. Subject two gets kidnapped and the story follows Selene working with a still functioning coven to try and recover the girl.
The movie was fine, in the grand scheme of things and it deserves some praise for effects and camera-work. I saw it in 3D and the entire movie looked really good, with the 3D adding to the action and never being over-the top. I give it a 3.5/5 and can't wait to see the next one!
I did make an observations while I was in the theater though. One of the the trailers that I saw was for Resident Evil: Retribution. It had one of the best trailers I had seen in quite a while! It reminded me a lot of the Resident Evil: Apocalypse trailer, which is one of my favorite trailers of all time. That got me thinking about the parallels of the Underworld and Resident Evil movies. Both franchises started around 2002 (RE) and 2003 (Underworld). Both movies have very strong female leads, Milla Jovovich in Resident Evil, and Kate Beckinsale in Underworld. Both are supernatural, with Resident Evil dealing with zombies and infectious diseases and mutations, and Underworld tackling good old fashioned battle between Vampires and Werewolves. Both have marriages driving the franchises, Resident Evil being helmed by Paul W.S. Anderson who married Jovovich in 2009, and Underworld with Len Wiseman, who married Beckinsale in 2004. Both are crazy, dumb, fun, and visually intense actions movies. Both are now being shot in 3D and have great CGI graphics, stunts, and special effects. Both have questionable writing! Despite the questionable writing, both will keep you engaged for over an hour.
There really is no point to that observation, other than that both franchises, while very different, drive the supernatural action/horror/unintentional comedy genre and play off of each other in order to one-up the graphics, fight sequences, explosions, violence, and questionable writing. Its a great little franchise duel to watch! I can't wait to see what Resident Evil 9 and Underworld: The Taper-offering will be like and what affect (if any) it will have on other franchises!
As always leave comments/suggestions or if you have movies you'd like me to watch and write about, let me know!
