Anthony's Film Review - Underworld: Blood Wars (2017)

Another cool entry in the bloody yet fun Underworld series...

Underworld: Blood Wars is the fifth movie in the series of Underworld movies that began in 2003. Even after 14 years or so, the series is still as good as it started. The ongoing war between vampires and Lycans (werewolves) continues to deliver bloody good fun alongside a decent story. Now, if you're like me, you haven't watched an Underworld movie in a while, especially if the last one you saw was Underworld: Awakening back in 2012. But don't worry. The opening of Blood Wars provides a quick recap of the key events in the series thus far. It'll help you get back into the excitement of it all.

The vampire warrior Selene, played by Kate Beckinsale, is now the hunted one, having been banished by other vampires. If that's not difficult enough, she is still trying to find her daughter and does not know what happened to her lover Michael. To make matters worse, the Lycan leader named Marius, played by Tobias Menzies, is also looking for Selene's daughter, because the girl has a special kind of blood that would make the Lycans invincible when consumed. And speaking of villains, there's also one among the vampires, in the form of Semira, played by Lara Pulver, who would even destroy her own kind to achieve power.

Basically, the story centers on Selene's journey as she first goes into hiding, then is recruited back by the vampires because she could train other vampires to fight, before she travels north to a remaining vampire enclave. She has one ally in all of this: David, played by Theo James (from the Divergent movie series). But things are not going to be easy with the Lycan and vampire villains I mentioned above. And not surprisingly, when the vampires and Lycans are face to face, the results are bloody and deadly.

The action is exactly what you expect. There are bullets flying everywhere, punches and kicks thrown here and there, lethal stabbings that go deep into foes, and slashes that can split an entire body in half. It's also cool to see Lycans fully transform into wolf form and vampires fully showing their fangs. All of this is not to say that there is action throughout. If anything, there's a bit of action early on, not much in the middle, and heavily concentrated near the end.

Even after a five-year gap from the previous movie in the series, Underworld: Blood Wars maintains the spirit of the series. If you're hoping for an awesome Underworld movie that's better than before, don't get your hopes up. If you're worried that this one will suck, don't worry about it. The series hasn't lost its edge. Now, based on how this movie ends, you could end the series right here. But given that it's not a fully closed ending and that this movie still kicks some butt, I won't be surprised if Kate Beckinsale comes back as Selene again in a few years. Come to think of it, maybe she will.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Underworld: Blood Wars, visit the Internet Movie Database.

In addition, check out my reviews of the following:

The Underworld Films