Pedestrian chapter for the most in the vampires vs. werewolves franchise; Beckinsale is worth the price of admission alone

Rating: 7/10 (23 January 2012)

UNDERWORLD : AWAKENING (2012) **1/2 Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Rea, Michael Ealey, India Eisley, Charles Dance, Theo James, Sandrine Holt, Kris Holden-Ried. Pedestrian chapter for the most in the vampires vs. werewolves franchise with vampire Selene (Beckinsale still hot kicking ass in a catsuit) awakens from a 12 year induced hibernation to discover her kind – and her arch nemeses, the Lycans – are now facing extermination by the humans – and the key to both their survival lies in the fate of a bio-engineered hybrid in the form of a young girl (ethereal Eisley). While the team of Swede directors Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein keep things at a lively clip – with the graphic bloodshed at full speed ahead – the film is a tad anemic in its structure and feels a new transfusion is necessary to keep the series thriving (again Beckinsale is worth the price of admission alone) even with the limited 3-D Imax experience (i.e. 'in-your-face' dioramas at best).