The first movie of the Underworld franchise was out of the world, a fresh take on the age old war between Lycan clan and Vampires, the movie was declared a Box Office also redefining the glamorous Kate Beckinsale into a high profile star. But as the series progressed instead of bringing in variety the vibe of the movie did not include interesting plots and twists, instead retained the fight between the two communities and made little progress making Blood wars just another movie in this franchise without much entertainment nor action quotient which is what used to make it special.
Underworld: Blood Wars begins with a recap delivered through flashbacks from Selene’s memory, presenting fragments narrated from her perspective. Kate Beckinsale reprises her role as the death dealer assassin Selene as she embarks on a quest to end the war between vampires and lycans.
With David (Theo James) as her only ally, she attempts to prevent Lycan leader Marius (Tobias Menzies) from acquiring the blood of Selene’s daughter Eve, which is believed to be lycan’s abilities. As a result, Selene is prompted to fight through the mysteries that stay within the vampire clan while also struggling to come to terms with her daughter’s separation. Both vampires and Lycans are searching for Selene’s daughter Eve, the first ever pure-born hybrid, whose blood could be made into a weapon and eventually to dominate the whole world. With no knowledge of her daughter’s whereabouts, Selene has instead become their target, while David unearths a murderous coup within his own home that could tear the council apart. When she is inevitably betrayed once again, Selene flees north with David to a remote place, only to face a newly mobilized Lycan army under the leadership of the formidable Marius.
But then there’s the direction from first-timer in the franchise Anna Foerster, who makes an array of chaotic decisions that bring down almost every element of the film. The dull, dark blue, almost completely dark color palette makes the audience to strain our eyes towards a gory CGI sequence and does not give a comfortable viewing in the end. The action, the very basic element that could provide some sort of entertainment value, is handled rather naively, straight-to-video stylings that give the impression that Blood Wars was done in a hurry when compared to the previous flicks. The only heartening moments of the film is with the film’s flag runner Kate who appears to have not aged a bit from the start of the franchise and looks absolutely ravishing still.
The movie only starts to matter once the second act picks up. The action sequences emerge as the movie’s saving grace. The sets are as primitive as what audiences have come to expect. It has gore and bloody images with people drenched in blood from bullet wounds. The sound engineering and BGM is probably one of the shabbiest technical aspect and looks very much amateurish. The action sequence through midway and toward the climax is a sort of relief and is right on the money, but again patchy CGI work blows its effect away. Most importantly, the hand-to-hand struggle between Selene and Marius is very well-executed. It is by far the main attraction for audiences.
The film is also releasing in regional languages as is the case of most of Hollywood movies these days.
Verdict: If you are a fan of Dracula, werewolf, Vampire and all those bloody movies, Underworld would not be a bad choice.
