Movie Review for Underworld: Blood Wars

Underworld

Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Theo James, Tobias Menzies, Lara Pulver, Charles Dance, James Faulkner, Peter Anderson, Clementine Nicholson, Bradley James, and more.

Directed by: Anna Foerster Screenplay by: Cory Goodman Story by: Kyle Ward and Cory Goodman Based on Characters Created by: Kevin Grevioux, Len Wiseman, and Danny McBride Cinematography by: Karl Walter Lindenlaub Music by: Michael Wandmacher

Premise: Having lost her lover, daughter, and family, Selene feels she has no reason for living. Hunted by both werewolves and vampires as they seek her daughter for her blood, they won't believe her when she tells them she doesn't know where she is. Meanwhile, a new leader has risen amongst the werewolves. One whose been able to unite all the tribes and successfully destroyed a number of vampire covens. This could be the ultimate battle for both species. And Selene is once more stuck in the middle of it, whether she wants to be or not. (Rated R)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Kate Beckinsale reprises her role as the vampire Selene. Her dark, poignant looks are as sharp as ever. Theo James also returns as David. A young vampire Selene saved in the last film, he stands by her side whether she wants his help or not. Lara Pulver is pure gold as the manipulative Semira. Charles Dance and James Faulkner bring their strong presences into the cast giving it some weight. 

2) Special Effects - Thumbs Up: A lot of effects fill the film. Most are quite nice. Several considerably gory. 

The outside area of the northern stronghold, especially the frozen waterfall, was fabulous. The obfuscate skills from the north flowed quite well. And the vampire cocoons were a neat concept.

I couldn't remember from the previous films, but it seems that the werewolves in this franchise get less and less hairy with each movie. Hairless werewolves look less like werewolves and more like muscle heavy people with long muzzles. The vampires too seemed less than they should. They either had elongated teeth all the time or not at all. 

3) Plot/Story - Neutral: At a mere 91 minutes, there's not much time for any real story development. Complications and backgrounds are served at breakneck speeds with no time to savor or absorb them. Character development is minimal. Lots of new enemies that just seem like more of the same because they're not given any real time to prove they're in any way different from the rest. 

To increase the blood and carnage, both the werewolves and the vampires seem to lose a lot of their powers. Their sense of enhanced smell, strength, and more. A lot of wounds that should repair themselves in moments don't heal at all. (Not every blade would have poison on it.) The touch of the sun and the UV bullets now kill instantaneously. Selene and Varga's cage match showed potential for cool combat skills the vampires never once use on their werewolf enemies. 

A lot of the motivations seem concocted and convenient. Without building the characters some of the things they do make no sense. Thomas knows Semira and her techniques, yet ignores what he knows and makes some of what follows hollow. Varga's explanations for his actions late in the film are completely belied by his previous actions, but no one seems to notice. (And when do you put someone in a room as a prisoner without removing all the weapons? As if this huge place wouldn't have a set of cells!) 

It's also never good when you repeatedly tell the audience how impossible something is, and yet it's taken care of easily. Worse, once the vampires realize what has been done, they do nothing to correct the issue and get the benefit of added security instead of being massacred. Oh well. 

 4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: Lots of hand-to-hand combat. Sword fights, gun fights, and combinations of those and more. The choreography from the battles was overall well done.

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: The gorgeous vistas, especially when they go north, almost make up for the plot issues. The shots from the train over the mountains were fantastic! The frozen lake with the northern lights behind them was a beautiful sight. I loved the shots of the frozen waterfall.

6) Costuming/Makeup - Total Thumbs Up: Selene wears her signature corset, leathers, and long coat. Later things get shaken up a little with some contrast changes. All the southern vampires are emo to the max. It made for a huge contrast when we're introduced to the northern coven. A strange ying and yang effect. I loved the touch of Viking and Valkyrie influence on the northern group, especially for Lena.

Conclusion: If you love watching Selene kick buns, and some gorgeous cinematography, you'll enjoy the film. Just don't expect much else. 

Rating: 3.25 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Better For Matinee) 

Movie Review - Total Recall

Total Recall

Starring: Colin Farrel, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston, Bokeem Woodbine, Bill Nighy, John Cho, Will Yun Lee, and more.

Directed by: Len Wiseman Screenplay by: Kurt Wimmer and Mark Bomback Screen Story by: Ronal Shusett, Dan O'Bannon, Jon Povill, and Kurt Wimmer Based On The Short Story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by: Philip K Dick Cinematography by: Paul Cameron Original Music by: Harry Gregson-Williams

Premise: A disillusioned man plagued by strange dreams decides to give the memory making thrill of Rekall a try. While being set up for his fantasy as a secret spy, things suddenly take a turn as armed men storm the room and kill everyone around him. When they try to grab him, he exhibits skills he's never known before and brings them all down. When he goes home, his wife of seven years then tries to kill him. Is he actually still at Rekall playing out his spy fantasy or is the horror his life has become real? (Rated R)

Review:

1) Acting - Thumbs Up: Colin Farrel was great as Douglas Quaid. You could feel his character's frustration at his lot in life even as he argued with himself he should be satisfied and grateful. At several spots Quaid is force to make hard choices, and the struggle to pick the right course reflected very well in Mr. Farrel's expressions and actions. Kate Beckinsale as Lori, however, stole the show. Her dogged, never ending determination and drive was a definite force in the film and came off the screen at the audience in waves.

2) Special Effects - Thumbs Up: A lot of the effects were very subtle, but definitely there. The palm phones were very cool and the options of private conversations or video conversations were impressive. Holographic imaging was everywhere. The glowing tattoos were super cool, too. The magnetic cars and all the security force androids felt real. The chase scene through the elevator tunnels and on the elevator cars was nicely done.

3) Plot/Story - Neutral: I saw the original "Total Recall" with Arnold Schwazeneger years ago, so not all the facts from the original were fresh in my mind during the viewing of the remake, but I still couldn't help notice a major deviation from then original right from the start - this version of the film is set on Earth rather than Mars. While that normally really wouldn't make much of a difference, in this instance it seemed like an odd change, especially as the new background premise made little sense. (If you have that many robots at your disposal, why aren't they out there cleaning the unsafe zone so humanity could expand?)

The core story is pretty solid - Quaid getting caught up in the middle of things he doesn't understand and trying to find out what is going on and following the clues left by his former self. But all the set up and information outside the core plot don't add up. Luckily, the film moves at a very fast pace, not allowing for the audience to spend a lot of time putting things together and realizing a lot of things don't quite fit together.

One example of what I'm talking about would be the Rekall shop at The Colony - located in the worst part of town, and advertising its presence solely by a small sign outside the door, inside the facility is huge! The room for setting up the experience was opulent and had a tremendous amount of space - something which the living conditions of everyone we'd seen up to that point made it seem incredibly unusual. The room even had a giant Buddha head (something which probably weighed tons). Yet if your clients are the low paid, crushed humanity of The Colony, how can they afford to go there? This was just one of many things that didn't quite fit.

4) Stunts - Thumbs Up: There was lots of tumbling, running, leaping, and hand to hand combat among explosions, car chases, careening elevator cars and more. All nicely done.

Conclusion: A fun, exciting ride as long as you don't think too hard and try to make sense of things. Also, if you've seen the original "Total Recall", there are several spots to look for giving homage to the 1990 film.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Movie Review - Underworld: Awakening

Underworld: Awakening

Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Rea, Theo James, Michael Ealy, India Eisley, Charles Dance, Sadrine Holt, Kris Holden-Reid, Jacob Blair and more.

Directed by: Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein Story by: Len Wiseman Screenplay by: Len Wiseman, John Hlavin, J Michael Straczynski, Allison Burnett Based on Characters by: Kevin Grevioux, Len Wiseman, Danny McBride Original Music by: Paul Haslinger

Premise: The humans have become aware of both the lycans and vampires then unite to clean house. Twelve years later, Selene awakens in a center for disease control facility called Antigen. She believes Michael is the one who set her free and goes off in search of him. But all is not as she believes. (Rated - R)

Review: If you're into loads of action, street chases, werewolves, mad scientists, and more - this movie is for you.

There is a quick recap at the beginning for those who've not seen any of the previous films, or haven't seen them in a while, so no worry there - for the most part. That segues into a short intro on how things got to be the way they are now - with humanity aware of the underworld and the extremes they've gone to to take care of the problem.

CGI work was great! Very nice integrations between reality and added things - there's a chase scene in the street with lycans and normal cars that was very impressive. The silver nitrate grenade explosions are especially awesome in the IMAX 3D.

The fight sequences were very well done. Selene kicks major buns as usual. David and Eve (though her name was never said in the movie) are no slouchers either. Plenty of explosions, bullets, knives, grenades, claws, and more throughout the film.

The story itself works pretty well and they even build up to leaving it open for another sequel. There were a couple of things that were glaringly ignored, probably so no one would question them, but they are definite holes. One has to do with the entire reason for the film in the first place. Another has to do with David. (Trying not to spoil anything.) Perhaps the next film will address these items, perhaps not. There were some nice twists in the plot, so they compensated a lot for the other two issues. So if you don't look at things too closely, you won't have any troubles enjoying it.

No scenes at the end, so you don't need to sit through the credits.

Overall, definitely worth a watch as it will more than fill your action cravings.

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)