Underworld: Blood Wars | Review - Kate is back to black

Underworld Blood Wars Kate Beckinsale Selene

(Image credit: Larry Horricks)

Kate Beckinsale's black-PVC-clad vampire Selene returns to kick more werewolf ass in the fifth Underworld movie, but even undying fans of the franchise will be struggling to whip up much enthusiasm for this lifeless effort.

Selene is currently an outcast, hunted both by her vengeful fellow vampires and by the lupine Lycans, who are seeking her Hybrid (half-Lycan) daughter. Underworld: Blood Wars spends more time trying to unravel the series’ woolly mythology than it does on action – you’ll need to sit through copious flashbacks and Selene’s intermittent voiceover.

However, when the foes (including Theo James, Charles Dance, Lara Pulver and Tobius Menzies) finally get around to fighting, it’s never entirely clear what on earth vampires and werewolves are doing blazing away with machine guns.

Certificate 15. Runtime 91 mins. Director Anna Foerster

Underworld Blood Wars debuts on Sky Cinema Premiere on Saturday 16 September. Available on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKHL5PyAPzs

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A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.