2012 Underworld: Awakening

• Directed by: Mans Marlind, Bjorn Stein
• Written by: Len Wiseman, John Hlavin, J. Michael Straczynski
• Stars: Kate Beckinsale, Michael Ealy, India Eisley
• Run Time: 1 Hour, 28 Minutes
• Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUcrbUCWKQc

Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone

With the war between the vampires and the lycans over, humans find out about the monsters and they’ve shifted to humans vs. vampires and lycans. There is a lot of action fighting, but more to the story than just that.

It seemed a little short and rushed, and maybe unnecessary, but it’s pretty well made and still has some entertainment value. It was a step down from the previous movies, but worth checking out if you’re a fan of the series.

Spoilery Synopsis

We get a quick recap of the storyline. Now, a new darkness has arisen.

We get a news report that vampires and werewolves have been discovered and made public; everyone knows about them now, and there are tests to determine if you’re human or not. Marshal law has been declared, and Dr. Jacob Lane is interviewed on TV about the situation. We watch Selene fighting human soldiers as the credits roll.

Selene’s not a typical vampire, she’s a Death-Dealer, and not so easy to kill, even without a gun. She arrives at the dock to meet Michael, who is shot with silver bullets and blown up, along with Selene.

In the hospital, “Subject 1” is awakened from Cryo-sleep. That’s Selene, who was frozen for some reason. Dr. Lane is called, but she kills his assistants. She escapes after causing much carnage. She breaks into a store for clothes to find that they sell “Real Vampire Teeth” and “Real Lycan Teeth.”

Selene runs into a security guard who tells her that the fight with Michael happened twelve years ago.

Two detectives talk about a recent murder; it’s been years since the last Lycan killing. Detective Sebastian is assigned to the Selene escape from the lab. Sebastian goes to see Dr. Lane, who explains that they killed the subject, no one actually escaped. For some reason, he lies about what happened. The detective soon discovers the lie.

Selene interrogates one of the scientists about “Subject 2,” whom she assumes is Michael. She gets glimpses of visions the #2’s eyes. Another vampire, David, comes to Selene, and he says the lycans have been hiding for years, but something has been getting them stirred up recently. They rescue a young girl from an impending lycan attack.

The lycans do attack, right in the middle of a busy street, and they want that girl they have. They break in and bite her, but she’s meaner than the wolves. Turns out, the girl is Subject #2, and she’s Eve, Selene’s daughter somehow. Selene tastes Eve’s blood and verifies the story.

David takes Selene and Eve home to his coven, and the leader there, Thomas, doesn’t trust Selene at all; he knows her history. The vampire doctor is astounded at Eve, since she doesn’t have any bite marks. It’s likely that Eve is the daughter of both Selene and Michael, something between the two races.

The humans arrive at the coven hideout. David wants to fight, Thomas wants to evacuate. Turns out, the attackers aren’t human, they’re lycans, led by one giant one. Thomas gives Eve over to the lycans.

Selene goes to see Detective Sebastian. Something isn’t right that lycans still not only exist but have some unnaturally big specimens. They put it together that the lab is helping the lycans. And then we see that Dr. Lane and his minions have made themselves lycans through science. Lycans that are immune to silver. And they want to rule the world.

Meanwhile, Selene armors up to make an assault on the lab and get Eve back, with Detective Sebasian’s help. For plot reasons, Selene can walk around in the daylight now, and she uses that to sneak into the lab. Dr. Lane sends his chief goon, Quint, to stop Selene.

Selene finds Michael, frozen in a cryo tube, but she has to choose to free him or help Eve. She shoots his tube and runs off.

Selene makes it to the parking garage and stops Lane’s van, but she has to fight Quint, who is the big bad wolf. Sebastian shoots Lane, who is a lycan, and they fight as well. Sebastian loses, but then Lane has to fight Eve. David shows up out of nowhere and helps. Both lycans lose messily.

Selene, Eve, and David leave as Sebastian promises to misdirect the police who are arriving. They stop by the lab and see that Michael is gone.

Will the vampires survive?

Brian’s Commentary

This one gives up all the supernatural politics and lore of the first three films and becomes more of a post-vampire-apocalyptic action film. With the exception of Selene and barely Michael, none of the characters make a return appearance.

It was fine. It lost a lot by leaving the politics and scheming out. The human scientists just weren’t that interesting. Still, there’s room for at least one more sequel.

Kevin’s Commentary

It was a way to keep things going, just do a time jump. Michael is out of commission for the movie, shown briefly and not quite Scott Speedman, but they don’t list Michael in the IMDB credits. Digging in the trivia, it’s said that a stand-in played Michael and Scott Speedman was digitally superimposed. It wasn’t a very good special effect.

I’m not sure we needed this movie, but I don’t regret seeing it. It’s not as good as the previous ones, but still pretty good.