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The fourth installment in the "Underworld" franchise gives us a twelve year time leap thus excusing itself of the obvious loss of of its lead characters (Scott Speedman's Michael Corvin) and instead focuses on the outcome of genetic tampering of his DNA and Selene (Kate Beckinsale), namely a daughter that is the target of both vampire and Lycan attention in a world that has driven both species near to extinction in the aftermath of the "Underworld: Evolution". Sounds heady and over-convoluted but, trust me, it it isn't.
No, unlike the overwrought and unnecessarily over-complicated plot of "Evolution" (which this chronologically follows) this installment is blissfully simple. This frees the viewer to stop wrestling with the ridiculous leaps in logic, retconning, and plot holes of that aforementioned film and just sit back and enjoy. Granted, they may have taken the dedication to simplicity a bit too seriously but unlike some of the plot elements in "Evolution" nothing is headscratchingly bogus or stupid.
Yes, "Awakening" is mean, nasty, and to the point and all the better for it. At the very least it proved to be a thrilling way to spend a paltry hour and twenty minutes (slightly over the 30 minute mark if you count the suspiciously long credits). Despite its incredibly short runtime, the film never lets up. It delivers what, by this point, the series really has to offer: gorgeous action, slobberknocking confrontations between monsters, and the thrill of seeing Kate Beckinsale put boots to butts.
"Awakening' is a film that realized the story needed to be herded out of the tangle "Evolution" had drawn it into and that it couldn't revisit the past as "Rise of the Lycans" did. Instead it gives us a "(wo)man on the run" movie that quickly becomes a "rescue mission" movie. Not to say it abandoned the world-building attributes of the series. In fact, it manages to fit that in quite nicely into the state the characters are in and the villain's motives.
The directors know how to handle action and the set-pieces here are a fun time through and through. You'll find yourself more than glad to leave your brain at the door and watch Selene do her thing. Effects are a bit more reliant on CGI than before but physical effects were not totally abandoned.
This movie isn't going to win awards but it knows that and just runs with what it is. It doesn't pretend that the post "The Crow" gothic aesthetics are in or that it can be as good as the best "Blade" movie or that it didn't crib a bit from "The Matrix". It's boiled down the essence of what we find cool about the movies previous and done away with the burden of some of the overcooked plotting that, frankly, wouldn't work anymore. Here is "Underworld" at its most basic and I can appreciate that.
Wanna see an over-serious, monster-action slugfest? This will do you just fine. Sometimes it's okay to just think somebody is badass for a good stretch of minutes.
