Overwhelmed by Kate Beckinsale in Underworld.
What Pleather!
2 stars
Mini Review:
The fifth film in the Underworld series, Blood Wars takes the story forward from the last film. Selene the Death Dealer is caught between Lycans and the Vampires again. The Lycans are led by a ferocious and strangely powerful Marius and there is slashing and killing and swords and blood spilt when the Vampires clash with the Lycans. But nothing compares to the visual awesomeness of Kate Beckinsale in pleather.
Main Review:
If you have been a gamer, and have followed Kate Beckinsale through the five movies, you’d also be gasping in awe because she remains just as gorgeous as she was in the first film. And with every consecutive film she acquires more skills. Theo James looks like the eye candy he always was and plays David with enough emotion and angst that could be expected in a blood and gore film. Except that the sight of his hairy tum in extreme close-up when Selena extracts the tracer bullet is a bit off putting.
Thankfully we have elegant Goth soirees and a fab castle for Vampires, with chandeliers to die for.
And the leather clad Vampires and shabbily dressed Lycans do not disappoint. There is blood and bodies pile up faster than you can say Vampire. But their coven is full of traitors and machinations for power and that is rather satisfying indeed. It is not an intellectual exercise and no one is pretending that it is, so the length of the movie also seems just right.
The all pervading blue-grey world in Budapest or some such East European city keeps you in the mood for intrigue. The Lycans may be grungy and their headquarters are in a train yard… But their leader is creepy and horrific and he does make your heart skip a beat the first time and every time he transmogrifies into a beast.
The camerawork is amazing when the story takes us to the snow-clad North. The mountains and the train traveling through the white snow are beautifully shot. Of course there is more blood spilt here, but you end up saying, ‘Good fun!’
Of course you miss the deeper intrigue as you have seen before in the shape of Viktor, and you wish the traitors weren’t so easy to spot in this film. But the last fight between Marius and Selene is so good, your blood lust is satisfied too.
The fact that this movie makes you want to know more about Selene's daughter is a sign that horror of watching hapless peacenik Vampires die at the hands of a marauding Lycan horde is welcome to our jaded by comedy and superhero movie sequels. But when you're watching Kate Beckinsale stretch that pleather outfit to kill and maim Lycans, you know there is guiltless joy in horror and you are glad there is darkness in the theater and no one can see you eat samosas and finish that tub of popcorn with cheese...
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