Vengeance Returns is Right

Rating: 8/10 (21 January 2012)

I am NOT one who will walk out of the theatre and proclaim this sequel is the best one of the series simply because it's the freshest in my mind. Despite on how long it's been, I always remember how I rank franchise entries and I always remember "The Classics" – generally, but not always, the first chapter.
That said, I did that with 'Underworld: Awakening.' (8/10 Stars) I walked out at the end and exclaimed: This was the best of the series.
Sure, it helps that I'm not a fan of the Underworld films and that I pretty much only love both the character of Selene and the acting of Kate Beckinsale in the role. But, beyond that, this movie brought to the table a few things that made it better than the previous installments, such as no more "ancients" story lines, more action and no more Viktor! In addition, the action was intense, the vengeance in Selene was real, raw and fun to watch and had one of the best climatic final battles in my recent memory. (Even the great 'Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol' reached its peak in the center of that film.)
Did I mention, along with some pretty good lines ("I'm counting on it") and a very nice take on Selene's machine gun escape route, it's a swift and needed 88 minutes? After the film's original way-too-long 121 minutes, the series has progressively gotten shorter. I will NOT complain about this; the story and sometimes unintentionally humorous werewolf CGI cannot sustain more than a buck and a half of screen time.
Now the movie's not perfect, mind you. Story, eh. Predictable, yep. And the 3-D was anything but worth it. In fact, this would be high on the list of 3-D-haters who complain it's only added to make a tad bit more in revenues.
On the same note, however, the IMAX was welcomed. Its sound was deafening – in a good way, and the grand scale was nice. I don't think you can have one without the other, so we should (ah-hem) suck it up and pay the extra just to see the fighting vampires on IMAX.
Selene returns (Thank you, Kate!) and with a cold-hearted (or is that broken?) vengeance. After the world's now aware of vamps and werewolves and we promptly swept the cities to get rid of them, Selene's captured and frozen only to be awakened 12 years later. Still cold blooded – ha – she's p*ssed and NO ONE will stand in her way. In fact, she's SuperSelene, a big improvement on the already ass-kicking character.
I don't want to give away any of the film's "secrets" – though most will see them coming anyways, but suffice to say, she's on a mission and it's almost non-stop action until the fantastic 3-4-way fight out in the conclusion.
Okay, I'll give one awayconsider it a present to open on Christmas Eve: The actual ending, i.e. the last 30 seconds might as well had the world famous "To Be Continued" stream across the screen like from the 'Back to the Future' final shot. Me: REALLY? (For horror fans, this was also so incredibly integrated with the 'Halloween' franchise. Repeatedly to the point of why even bother when no sequel's guaranteed.)
Eh, get past that and see the movie. Even if you're not an 'Underworld' fan.