Underworld: Awakening

  As expected, the newest installment to the Underworld franchise was a feast for the eyes.
And, not just because it was in 3D. I must say, unless your a die hard Underworld fan the 3D might not be necessary, but for all you die hards (like me) it does not disappoint.

Now, I'm not going to get into my problems with the last movie, Rise of The Lycans (continuity errors much?), but I will say first off that you do not need to remember, or even have seen the other Underworld movies to enjoy Awakening. The opening of the movie does a good catching up on what's previously happened, without bogging you down, then drops you right into the action.
The general plot of the movie is: humans have discovered the existence of vampires and lycans. So the war they'd been in with each other for centuries turned into a war with human beings - and through what they refer to as 'the purging' they rid the world of most of the vampire population and left lycans all but extinct. During the purge they tracked down our heroine, Selene (played by Kate Beckinsale, thank god she's back!) and Michael, the hybrid, and tear them apart, taking Selene prisoner.
12 years later the movie really starts to kick in, when someone wakes Selene from a freezing tank in a lab and allows her to escape. This is when things start to get interesting.

I've always loved the Underworld movies for the action, and the back story is always creative and ballsy in a way that supernatural movies should be. By removing a major factor from the first two movies (I'm trying to be a bit vague as to avoid giving too much away for those who are interested) the opportunity arose to give Selene something new to fight for, and that came in the form of a young girl. Another hybrid, and one bad ass 12 year old. It gives Selene a very unexpected dimension, and in a way reboots the franchise because there is now this new story with the girl - she has to take care of the girl, and the lycans cannot get their hands on her. And they now have the humans to worry about, with the other vampires running scared and a new form of lycan popping up the action in this movie doesn't stop for the hour and thirty minutes.

I loved this movie....but you must keep in mind, its an action movie. I think it had its bits of brilliance but its not going to win an academy award for best screenplay, you know what I mean? But that's a given with most action movies. So, fans make sure you get out to see it. It won't disappoint (this is not a case of Rise of The Lycans, trust me).
Another great thing was seeing the home grown talent, Kris Holden-Ried, the werewolf from one of my favourite shows on tv right now Lost Girl, as a serious lycan who gives Selene a run for her money. I hope he doesn't mind getting type cast from this point on - because he's so damn good at it.