Underworld: Blood Wars (2016) (Blu-ray horror film review).
Odd thing. The blu-ray version of ‘Underworld: Blood Wars’ is 91 minutes long and the DVD version is 80 or 88 minutes depending where you look. Make of that as you will, I’m reviewing the blu-ray version.
I’m a little behind watching the ‘Underworld’ films and this is the fifth in series. Fortunately, there is a decent recap at the beginning putting you in the picture. The war between the vampire and lycan clans continues with the hunter Selene (actress Kate Beckinsale) returning and getting in between. She was only supposed to be looking for her missing daughter but gets drawn in again. That’s the plot in a nutshell with little more to flesh it out.
A major flaw with this film is so much of is in the dark, often only with gunfire flash to light things up. This is a shame as something like the whole clan of lycans all turning into their wolf counter-parts could have benefitted with being seen better. There are creative ways of making better use of darkness and still show detail, more so when you look at the number of creative people involved with this film that you can’t see their work.
Also, so much of this film is one long gun battle, odd that when you consider the vampires and lycans natural weapons, so don’t come to this film expecting much in the way of character development or even dialogue. Having watched the extras, I do have to wonder if some of the actors are actually talking about the same film or seen the finished production with their comments.
Speaking of which, there are several extras. 8 minutes of ‘The Evolution Of Selene’ discussing from cast and crew the film. 6 minutes of ‘Old & New Blood’ investigates the new coven. Things seem to run in 6 minutes as ‘The Evil Evolved’ looks at the vampires.
I have to confess I’m not really sure what to make of this film. As Kate Beckinsale’s Selene character was missing from the fourth film, which I’ve yet to see, there wasn’t really much of a jump other than the fact that she’s much older and had a daughter. If ‘Blood Wars’ is catering for those who like battle more than talk, then you’ll be satisfied but the plot is so dependent on two aspects, as noted in my second paragraph, that it’s a shame that there wasn’t more flesh put on the script.
GF Willmetts
May 2017
(blu-ray region b: pub: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 1 blu-ray disk 91 minute film with extras. Price: £14.99 (UK). ASIN: B01N7RL59C)
cast: Kate Beckinsale, Theo James, Charles Dance and Tobias Menzies
check out website: www.sonypictures.co.uk
