Underworld: Awakening

Underworld: Awakening
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Måns Mårlind Björn Stein
Screenplay by	Len Wiseman John Hlavin J. Michael Straczynski Allison Burnett
Story by	Len Wiseman John Hlavin
Based on	Characters created by Kevin Grevioux Len Wiseman Danny McBride
Produced by	Tom Rosenberg Gary Lucchesi Len Wiseman Richard Wright
Starring	Kate Beckinsale Stephen Rea Michael Ealy Theo James India Eisley Charles Dance
Cinematography	Scott Kevan
Edited by	Jeff McEvoy
Music by	Paul Haslinger
Production companies	Screen Gems Lakeshore Entertainment Sketch Films
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Releasing
Release date	January 20, 2012 (2012-01-20)
Running time	86 minutes[2]
Country	United States[1]
Language	English
Budget	$70 million[3]
Box office	$160.1 million[4]

Underworld: Awakening is a 2012 American action horror film directed by Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein. It is the fourth installment in the Underworld franchise, with Kate Beckinsale reprising her role as Selene, joined by Theo James, Michael Ealy, and India Eisley. Filming began in March 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia^[5] and the film was released in Digital 3D, IMAX 3D and 2D theaters on January 20, 2012^[6] and grossed $160 million worldwide. It was followed by Underworld: Blood Wars in 2016.

Plot[]

A few years after the events of the second film, both the government and the general public have become aware of the existence of the Vampires and Lycans. A program to study and potentially harness their powers soon escalates into an all-out genocide and shortly after the Purge begins, Selene and Michael are captured by humans. Due to her enhanced vampiric traits, Selene is imprisoned in cryogenic suspension.

After being frozen for twelve years, during which both species have been hunted to the brink of extinction, Selene manages to escape. She learns that another subject, whom she initially believes to be Michael, has also escaped. While making her way through the high-tech facility, Selene has visions from someone else's point of view. Believing that Michael is mentally guiding her, she follows the visions, which lead her down a garbage chute into a labyrinthine series of basement tunnels. Here she encounters a young vampire named David, who has been tracking her. They quickly realize that the tunnels are infested with sick and weakened Lycans, who are hunting the subject with whom Selene is connected. Determined to reach Michael, Selene fights her way through the Lycan pack until she reaches the second escapee: not Michael, but a frightened and confused young girl.

Using David's van, Selene, David and the girl make their way out of the facility, only to be attacked once again by a trio of Lycans. David stabs a Lycan while Selene shoots another; the third smashes its way into the rear of the vehicle, where it bites the girl's shoulder. This triggers a partial transformation, revealing her hybrid traits, as she savagely rips the creature's head in half. Selene realizes this is her and Michael's daughter. The girl reveals that during her own escape from the facility, she found Selene's cryogenic tank and deactivated it, which was what allowed Selene to escape. However, despite her hybrid nature it becomes apparent that her bite wound is not healing and she is rapidly growing weaker, resulting in David agreeing to take the pair to his coven.

After she reluctantly drinks some blood, her wound heals. But as they do not feel welcome in the coven, due to the fact that the girl is noticeably different from Vampires, Lycans and even Hybrid, Selene prepares to leave. David tries to convince her to stay and help them start an offensive against the humans by training some Death Dealers, but before she makes up her mind, the coven comes under attack by Lycans. Selene joins the fight and kills many Lycans before being knocked unconscious by a huge "Super-Lycan" that heals instantly and is not affected by silver. When she awakens later she finds that Thomas, David's father, has surrendered her daughter to the Lycans in return for them leaving. David has been mortally wounded in the battle, but Selene revives him with her blood. After leaving, Selene confronts a human detective named Sebastian, who is sympathetic to the vampires due to his now dead wife being a vampire. Sebastian confirms that the Lycans have been traced to Antigen, the corporation dedicated to killing off the immortal species, and which also runs the facility from which Selene has escaped.

Selene discovers that Antigen is actually run by Lycans, who have been posing as humans in order to trick the world's governments into believing the Lycans are extinct. The director of Antigen, Dr. Jacob Lane, is trying to perfect the Lycan race and needs the DNA of Selene's daughter to do so. The "Super-Lycan" Selene faced earlier is identified as Quint – Lane's son and the prototype for Lycan modifications. Selene and Sebastian assault Antigen to stop Lane's plan and save Selene's daughter, who they begin calling "Eve". Selene comes across Subject 0, whom she identifies as Michael, and attempts to free him by shooting his cryogenic tank. However, she is forced to leave the thawing Michael in order to stop the Lycans from escaping with Eve. David, who since being healed by her blood has inherited Selene's immunity to sunlight, arrives and helps Sebastian kill several Lycan henchmen. After confronting Lane and Quint, Selene fights Quint. Once she tricks him into returning to his more vulnerable human form by hiding in a narrow tunnel, Selene kills him by implanting a silver grenade in his stomach, while Eve kills Lane by ripping out his throat. As the police arrive, Sebastian urges the vampires to flee and distracts the officers. Selene, Eve, and David return to Michael's tank and find it empty with the ice shattered. Selene states that the world will be hunting Michael and the trio vow to find him first.

Cast[]

Scott Speedman, who appeared as Michael Corvin in the first two films in the series, announced that he would not be reprising his role for the fourth installment,^[8] however he did appear in archive footage from the first and second films, although a stand-in was used in the scenes where he is seen in an unconscious state.

Production[]

Filming began in March 2011 at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia. Awakening is one of the first movies to be shot using RED EPIC digital cameras in 3D.^[9]

Music[]

Soundtrack[]

The soundtrack was released to digital outlets on January 17, 2012, by Lakeshore Records. Most of the songs were remixed by Danny Lohner and use work from the bands Evanescence, Linkin Park, The Cure, Lacuna Coil and Aesthetic Perfection amongst others.

1. "Made of Stone" (Renholdër Remix) – Evanescence
2. "Heavy Prey" – Lacey Sturm of Flyleaf feat. Geno Lenardo
3. "Blackout" (Renholdër Remix) – Linkin Park
4. "Apart" (Renholdër Remix) – The Cure
5. "Killer & a Queen" – Stella Katsoudas of Sister Soleil feat. Geno Lenardo
6. "Watch Yourself" (Renholdër Remix) – Ministry
7. "Trip the Darkness" (Ben Weinman Remix) – Lacuna Coil
8. "Young Blood" (Renholdër Remix) – The Naked and Famous
9. "It Rapes All In Its Path" – Black Light Burns
10. "The Posthumous Letter" – William Control
11. "How'm I Supposed to Die" – Civil Twilight
12. "Consolation Prize" – & SONS
13. "Liar" (Revenant mix by 8MM) – 8MM
14. "You Won't See The Light" – Ryan T.Hope of The Lifeline feat. Geno Lenardo
15. "Bottle of Pain" – Combichrist
16. "Intruder" – Collide
17. "Exit Wounds" (Justin Lassen Remix) – Justin Lassen feat. Silent Fury

Score[]

Critical reception[]

Underworld: Awakening received generally negative reviews from film critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 27%, based on 71 reviews, with an average rating of 4.3/10. The site's consensus reads, "There's more vapid action and less story in Underworld: Awakening than previous installments, making the whole affair feel inconsequential."^[10] Metacritic has given the film a score of 39 out of 100, based in 17 critics.^[11]

Movie review website The Filtered Lens gave the film a negative review citing that "if you try and pay attention to the plot you will get a headache". However, they did note that the action was well done and said it was the goriest of the series.^[12] Film critic Chris Pandolfi viewed the film positively, especially compared to the first two in the franchise, saying "although it's about as lasting as dust in the wind, I think it represents what the series should have been right from the start: An escapist supernatural action thriller that gives us license to put our brains on autopilot."^[13]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Underworld: Awakening at IMDb