Wednesday Review - Underworld: Blood War

It’s not much of a compliment to say that this movie is better than Underworld: Awakening. The last film really represented the point at which it became clear there was never any intention to give this franchise a real direction beyond the whims of whichever actors agreed to return. Rise of the Lycans was probably the best of the series, and clearly left room for another prequel. However, lacking either Michael Sheen or Scott Speedman, but with Kate Beckinsale onboard, the franchise veered off in a new direction, and now takes place in the future. The fact that this is in the future, however, is almost never referenced in this film, and has become pretty much superfluous.

Underworld: Blood War was supposedly reworked when the Divergent series suddenly made Theo James popular. It shows, as David, a fairly minor character in the previous film, is now clearly the secondary lead, and has a story-arc ripped straight from Lord of the Rings grafted on. Aragorn is now in an Underworld movie, right down to the sword he’s reluctant to take.

I was somewhat optimistic about the decision to recast Michael Corvin with a new actor. It seemed like a chance to move things forward on a plotline unused for the last two movies. If anyone feels the same way, kill that feeling with fire. Not to give too much away, the new actor’s screentime is far less than the amount of time spent on stock footage of Speedman.

As pessimistic as this sounds, however, the movie did start to regain my interest about halfway through. I’m not sure how objective I can be saying that it’s not as good as the original Underworld, since that’s a movie that came out at exactly the right point in my adolescence to become a major nostalgic joy. However, I do feel that movie had a certain degree of reverence for vampires and werewolves, introducing a more powerful being only at the end, and with great awe. Here, however, new powers and breeds for the vampires and werewolves are being thrown around like candy.

It’s Theo James, though, who unexpectedly saves the day. Beckinsale, at this point in the franchise, just seems bored. James, on the other hand, is somehow able to invoke the stoic badass look that Selene wore in the original, and deliver lines and kicks with a sense of absolute sincerity. I get the feeling James knew this movie was rewritten for him, and was going to show his gratitude by giving it his all. He made me care about a character who’s arc has been done a million times.

As a final note, I’m glad the Lycans are finally getting at least a bit more attention. So far, Rise of the Lycans is the only movie to really give them the role of protagonists. However, the new leader this movie gives us can’t hold a candle to Michael Sheen’s performance as Lucien. At least they’re not background set dressing anymore.

I know I’m rambling, and you likely just want my opinion on the movie. Here it is: It’s an okay movie, worth checking out. Without James, it would have been amusingly awful like the second and fourth movies in this series. With him, it’s a silk purse made from a sow’s ear.