In one eye and out the other entertainment...

Rating: 4/10 (14 July 2012)

...is pretty much the nicest thing one can say about this fourth installment in the fangs-and-fetish franchise that is "Underworld." Kate "Pearl Harbor" Beckinsale once again assays what will forever be her signature role as the vampiress warrior in form-fitting black. Despite the guidance of her auteur husband, Len "Live Free or Die Hard" Wiseman, her performance takes her nowhere she hasn't been already, and the slipshod four-author script remains ample evidence of why this make-work project failed to generate much box-office excitement for any but the franchise faithful. Tons of action, loads of CGI and gore, the lure of 3D (yay!), and of course the tantalizing lure of Ms. Beckinsale's lethal dominatrix-in-disguise; you'd think that the prized audience of adolescent-to-30something males would have slavered all over this one. Apparently, they did not. So much for insatiable testosterone.
It's interesting to note that IMDb voting has declined both qualitatively and quantitatively as the franchise continued, yet the much smaller female contingent consistently scores it better (to the tune of a full half point) than the Y-chrome cadre, most likely due to the strength and self-confidence of Beckinsale's heroine. I find that somehow refreshing. Perhap the cause of female empowerment has actually won some inroads into entrenched paternalism and misogyny.
No matter; back to the film. As always, it's the script that drags this installment down into the ranks of dispensability. As almost always, multiple writers: questionable results. The key loss, I think, was Danny McBride as lead scripter; I'd be interested in finding out why he parted ways with his co-creation. I've always treated the series as a guilty pleasure at best, in which style surpasses substance (and often only due to a sheer deficit of the latter), but it held a certain campy charm that has finally dissipated in this recent entry. The finale assuredly promises a future installment, but I can't say that I'm anticipating it. I'd rather see what Wiseman has done with the retread of "Total Recall," and that only barely.
Late-night boredom and/or fanboy viewing only.