As a fan of the first two Underworld films (fyi, the third one was just awful), I was pumped to see Kate Beckinsale was returning for the fourth in the series to reprise her role as Selene. Aside from pulling off the bad ass action heroine part of the role, she has also always brought a depth and believability to Selene which added to those first two Underworld films and made them something more than low-rent action popcorn flicks. Beckinsale certainly delivered again in Underworld: Awakening, kicking lycan butt, looking absolutely beautiful while doing so and still giving the role the believability it needed. What was missing from Awakening was any semblance of a serious story or an inkling of character development amongst the rest of the cast. It is true that the first two Underworld films' stories were not exactly Shakespearian in nature, but they at least contributed to the films. With Awakening, there was no substantive plot/story. It felt as though what was there plot/story-wise was filler until the next action sequence came roaring along. Ultimately, the lack of story or characters hurt the film and made it completely forgettable as soon as one pressed "stop" on their remote.
Action junkies can rejoice, Underworld: Awakening delivered all of the vampire vs. lycan battles and slo-mo shootouts that they would expect from a film in this series. But it lacked the story, characters and other elements to make it anything more than a loud, unremarkable sequel.
Grade: C-
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