🧛 Underworld: Awakening (2012) Review

“Selene’s back, but the franchise is running on fumes.”


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Lets start by showing y’all the trailers shall we?

🎥 Trailers

The trailers promised a bold new direction: humans discovering vampires and Lycans, starting a war of extermination. Selene returns after being absent in the prequel, and this time it looked like the action would be bigger and bloodier than ever.


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📖 Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

After the events of the first two films, humanity learns of the vampire–Lycan war and decides to wipe them both out. Selene is captured and cryogenically frozen, only to awaken years later in a world where everything has changed. She discovers she has a daughter, Eve, who is part of a new hybrid bloodline. Together, they must fight Lycans, vampire survivors, and shady corporations trying to weaponize their blood.

It’s less gothic horror and more sci-fi action thriller — which means less atmosphere, more gunfights, and an even messier pile of lore.


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🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Character Rundown

Selene (Kate Beckinsale): Back in the spotlight, now with a maternal subplot. Still stylish, still brooding, still carrying the franchise.

Eve (India Eisley): Selene’s hybrid daughter, more plot device than character.

David (Theo James): A young vampire ally who exists mostly to fill out the cast.

Dr. Jacob Lane (Stephen Rea): Generic evil scientist trying to exploit hybrids.

Lycans: Rebranded here as genetically modified super-wolves, bigger and nastier but not scarier.



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⏱️ Pacing / Episode Flow

The film moves faster than the earlier entries, leaning hard into action. Unfortunately, the “lore dumps” haven’t gone anywhere — they’re just stuffed between car chases, shootouts, and CGI werewolf brawls. The pacing feels like a video game campaign: mission after mission, all noise and no depth.


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✅ Pros

Kate Beckinsale’s return is the only real draw here.

The action is faster and bloodier than before.

The “humans hunting monsters” angle had potential.



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❌ Cons

The lore is now so bloated it’s practically parody.

Selene’s daughter is a lifeless character, clearly shoehorned in to keep the franchise going.

Bland villains with zero menace.

CGI Lycans look cartoonish rather than intimidating.

Abandons gothic atmosphere entirely for generic sci-fi action vibes.



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💭 Final Thoughts

Awakening was meant to revitalize the franchise after the prequel detour, but instead it shows just how creatively bankrupt the series had become. Selene deserved a better comeback than this hollow, loud, and soulless sequel. It’s just more lore, more hybrids, and more reasons to wonder why this franchise didn’t quit after the first movie.


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⭐ Rating

2/10 — Slicker, faster, but just as hollow. Beckinsale does her best, but she can’t save a corpse of a franchise.


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⚠️ Spoiler Warning ⚠️

🕵️ Spoilers

Selene awakens from cryogenic stasis to find humanity nearly wiped out vampires and Lycans. She learns she has a daughter, Eve, whose hybrid blood is the key to everyone’s plans. Dr. Lane and his company experiment on hybrids, creating bigger and stronger Lycans.

The climax involves Selene, Eve, and David battling a “super Lycan” in a lab facility. Selene eventually kills the monster with over-the-top action, and Eve is revealed to have enormous potential power. The film ends with the door wide open for sequels, but no satisfying resolution.

Once again, it’s less about telling a story and more about keeping the franchise alive with cliffhangers.