ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

bowmanblue I've always been a fan of the 'Underworld' franchise. The first film totally blew me away and - amazingly - the sequel (in my opinion, anyway) was that rarest of beasts of a sequel that was actually better than the original. Yes, a few people said the prequel that came next was a missed opportunity, as it didn't address a lot of the mythology that people were hoping for. And, despite many film critics absolutely despising the fourth instalment, I took some dumb enjoyment out of the affair. Therefore, I couldn't really see how 'part 5' would be anything other than more of the same silly, action-packed entertainment. I was wrong. Sadly.I just couldn't believe how much the quality has fallen with this one. It just felt like one of the most generic, by-the-numbers films ever made. Yes, it had some of the same characters in it. Yes, Kate Beckinsale looked good in her catsuit. And, yes, there are still plenty of action scenes. Yet, this time round, it just didn't feel like anything other than an extended trailer for a film.Although Kate Beckinsale does her best in the lead, this time round she seems almost bored to be here - like other roles have dried up and she needs this one to pay the bills. The other characters are equally forgettable; there's a new vampire who basically looks like the 'Mother of Dragons' from 'Game of Thrones' and (yet another) new leader of the werewolves (sorry, 'lycans') who just snarls in a menacing manner and even the - normally great - Charles Dance can't really add any old-school charm to the proceeding. However, when I sat down to watch this, I was hardly expecting major character development and meaningful story arcs - I would have settled for some decent vampire versus werewolves action. I didn't even get that! The action scenes are possibly some of the worst ever in modern movies. Twenty years ago they might have been considered something special, but times have changed and people are expecting something a little different. But, again, I could have taken dull action - what I really got was 'stupid' action! If you think about any of the major fight scenes they make no sense whatsoever. The characters do things that are so ridiculous that it makes all those old horror films where the blonde leading lady doesn't bother killing the killer when she has the upper hand absolutely believable and inspired. I've never seen a more poorly-trained army of vampires who gets wiped out like they're 'normal' humans. I suppose at least they don't 'sparkle' in sunlight.On the plus side, it does shed some light on some questions raised in previous instalments regarding characters who just - sort of - disappeared from the franchise, but apart from that, there's really not much here that you haven't seen before. I hear there's an 'Underworld 6' in the pipeline - I'll probably watch it, but this instalment has severely lowered my expectations towards the franchise.

erollence Good franchise. Good movie. Good actors. Good acting. In this installment: terrible cinematography. They were very heavy-handed with their filters. The blue tint to everything is acceptable, but then they used very high contrast and then darkened the heck out of every frame of the movie. I first saw this in a theater and I assumed the projectionist was running the projector at about 60% brightness. I hoped buying the Blu-ray would deliver the true picture. Turns out, the movie *really* is dark. Too dark. Way too dark. Every vampire in the coven was wearing 100% black outfits. Put them in a candle lit room with black walls and curtains and darkened filters and you end up with blue/white faces seemingly floating around! So frustrating. Even the photo that Netflix uses for this movie (DVD cover) is far brighter than any image in the entire movie. Maybe they should have called this movie: Pitch Black. Oh wait, that's already been used.

Roland E. Zwick "Underworld: Blood Wars" is the fifth installment in a franchise that began way back in 2003. Nearly 15 years in, the series has devolved into little more than a rote, by-the-book enactment of all the vampire vs. werewolf silliness that has permeated pop culture in the period since. The only point of interest, while watching the endless battles that flesh out the script, is trying to figure out why a bunch of vampires and werewolves need to rely so heavily on high-tech weaponry and advanced firepower. Kinda defeats the purpose of being a supernatural being, doesn't it?Kate Beckinsale, Theo James and Lara Pulver take center stage in the drama, while Charles Dance and James Faulkner, two seasoned actors who look and sound as if they should be performing Shakespeare on some London or Broadway stage, really seem to be slumming it here. Hard to resist the pull of an easy paycheck, I guess.

Eric Brinkman I don't get all the critical hate for this movie. What did anyone expect? It's frickin' Kate Beckinsale in latex!!! What could be better? This is terrible to admit, but I would pay Redbox $1.50 to watch Kate Beckinsale cook breakfast if she was dressed in her latex catsuit. But this movie is frickin' awesome! Sword hacking, vampires flying around, werewolves transforming into monsters, and (spoiler) Kate gets resurrected and comes back with frosty tips and new magic powers. I almost didn't watch this because of all the bad reviews, but it's the same old greatness as all the other films. Keep them coming! Kate Beckinsale is 43 years old and never looked better, plus she kicks @$$ with Euro ultra-violence. When (spoiler) Semira (Lara Pulver) gets stabbed through her mouth from behind as she enjoys the sun for the first time was almost as great as the ending as Kate says "I have lived for a thousand years, and I may live a thousand more..." I hope she does. :)