VERY BAD storyline, Very bad film, Very disappointed!

Rating: 3/10 (20 January 2012)

I LOVED the first three Underworld movies, but in all honesty "Underworld: Awakening" was for me a complete disaster. The first three movies were amazing because they made you think deeply about history, love, hatred, war, friendship, family, and other riveting themes; they encouraged critical thinking and connection making skills with all the powerful flashbacks and twists and turns that were within a strong plot-structure. But "Underworld: Awakening" failed to do any of these things.
The plot absolutely sucked; there's nothing original, and I don't even know what the point/theme was at all. Yes there are a few good twists in the movie, but they happen in like the last 30 minutes, and even here all we get to see is action and no real depth or explanation of the who, what, where, when, why, how? of the story. If humans are now the common enemy, then why on sam hill are vampires and werewolves still fighting? It doesn't make sense. Near the end, just as the story was getting good, I suddenly noticed the credits popping up. The movie was over. I thought, "Huh? It can't be over, it was just getting good!?" The film was also WAY too short. All of this taken together makes "Underworld: Awakening" more like an added TV episode than a major motion picture. I honestly can't believe 70 million was spent on this cop out. It would have been much better if they actually showed the fight between humans and vampires and focused on that instead of going back to a now pointless feud between vampires and lycans.
WHAT made "Underworld: Awakening" worse was the fact that the directors did not really connect this sequel to the other 3 Underworld movies: where are the flashbacks? Where's the dialogue? What exactly happened to the other characters in the earlier films, etc, etc? I know this will disappoint all of you die-hard fans like me who love the other movies, but truth hurts: the film was terrible.
The storyline was the worst part, I think. In the 1 hour and 30 minutes of the film, only about 20-30 minutes is spent actually talking. Selene only opens her mouth a few times, and nobody makes longer speeches which made the other movies great. If the film was really about Selene waging war against humans (which it wasn't) it would have been much better and an interesting story, but that wasn't the true plot at all.
To the Producers: "It was the STORY that made the Underworld series a success, not the action, but you failed to see that. Because there is VERY little dialogue in this one and A LOT of action, there is very little story here, which makes it very unlikely that ANYONE will remember this movie after watching it. If you want to make another Underworld movie, focus on the story, on speeches, on the intellect, on actual acting instead of crappy action I can see for free on a TV series." I hate to say this because I am such a huge fan of the series, but "Underworld: Awakening" is utterly forgettable. I was really disappointed, and if you're an Underworld fan you will be too. I don't think I'll watch it a second time.
My Objective Vote: 3/10
P.S. I think the people who rate this film more than a 5 either haven't watched the other Underworld films, were paid-off, or are insane. It just doesn't deserve anything more than a pass.