Long, mind-numbing
UNDERWORLD: BLOOD WARS
Direction: Anna Foerster Actors: Kate Beckinsale, Theo James Rating:
The ancient conflict between vampires and werewolves is revived for the fifth installment of the Underworld series, which dates back to 2003.
As ponderous and clichéridden as its predecessors, ...Blood Wars is weighted down by an abundance of dull dialogue, tacky effects and murky cinematography.
It’s a suckfest that is unarguably the bottom of the barrel in the action-horror genre. The narrative begins with a portentous voiceover in which a death-dealing vampire warrior (Kate Beckinsale, in trademark shiny leather outfit) recaps the events leading up to her present precarious position. Apparently, the gang of werewolves is now under the command of a new leader (Tobias Menzies, barely scary) and in pursuit of a new mission: to track down the vampire warrior’s teenage daughter in the mistaken belief that the girl’s hybrid blood will bring them immortality.
An agonisingly long and mind-numbing interspecies war ensues. There’s nothing even remotely exciting about the shootouts or the fang-andsword clashes, which peter out in listless resolution.
Worse, the possibility of another Underworld looms by the end of it all.
Give us a break!