The Age of Commercialism

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

The 5th film in the Underworld franchise sees the Vampires and Lycans more at odds than ever. Selene is outlawed, everyone wants to find her pure-crossbreed daughter Eve in order to use her blood to establish control, and they think they can do this via Selene (who actually doesn't know where Eve is). The vampires have political machinations going on between rival factions, and the Lycans, led by Marius and having grown strong, are preparing to mount an invasion. Complicated, innit?Like the previous 4 movies, the distinguishing characteristics of this movie are a) a muted blue/grey colour palette, b) lots of slo-mo cartoon CGI blood spraying all over the place, c) masses of slo-mo violence, b) the odd respected thespian adding a spurious note of gravitas, d) a plot full of complexities which hide a threadbare storyline which can be summed up as "vampires vs werewolves" (see also episodes 1 to 4), and e) Kate Beckinsale in spray-on leather. It must be admitted that, as ever, Kate Beckinsale's bum, lovingly caressed by shiny skin-tight leather, is almost worth the price of a cinema ticket on its own.There is, thankfully a recap at the start so that those who have forgotten the previous movies are brought back up to speed. This manages to include most of the money shots from the earlier films viz half of Bill Nighy's head sliding off etc.Otherwise, it suffices only to note that virgin director Anna Foerster, taking the place of Beckinsale's now ex-husband Len Wiseman, satisfactorily delivers the mixture as expected - political shenanigans, blood, bad CGI, and grim atmosphere.Lara Pulver wears several costumes which reveal rather more Lara Pulver than costume. This is a Good Thing.Oh, and there is a bloody great unanswered question. I'm not going to say what it is, that would be a spoiler, but you'll be saying exactly what one of the lead characters says - "But I saw...." The ending makes it clear that the answer will be found in the next film. Which leads me to say, "I've been fiddled!"

Death dealer Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is alone in the world. Michael is long gone. Their daughter Eve is hidden away even from Selene herself. Both Lycans and Vampires are after her. Vampire David (Theo James) comes to her aid against the Lycans and she saves his life. The Eastern Coven is losing against the Lycans and Semira (Lara Pulver) argues to reinstate Selene as leader of the new untrained Death Dealers.The franchise first started going downhill with Michael being written off. There is a Romeo and Juliet aspect to the first movie that is missing from all the rest. It's a good thing to start with a previously segment to bring some of it back since I've forgotten most of the convoluted history. The franchise is running on fumes. It feels very repetitive. This is playing to an ever shrinking fan base and nobody else. People who haven't followed the movies have no reason to watch this.

THis Underworld cgi action crap gives the genre a really bad name. Think that i enjoyed the two first Underworld, Even though It wasn't for bullet time action or cgi werewolf transformations, they had some great FX and the original was balanced.. Now look at this???! Every vampire running around with Machine guns and looking ridiculous! I don't recommend this garbage to anyone!

Like any guys from before the 90s, I was too a big fan of Beckinsale. There's no one can match her beauty, even to her age of today. That does not mean all her films are good. She has stopped doing good films a while ago. Every time when her films get released, I was hoping for her comeback like the old days, either a pure drama or an action film. No, not this film. It is what, the fifth in the franchise and the feature film debut for the directress of the television series.As always, worth watching for Kate. The story continued, and it focused on the remaining vampires fighting for their survival against their arch-rival, Lycans. That's where the Selene caught between. But this time, it was about looking for her daughter, Eve, who holds the key to the future of these immortals. So the action begins where everybody clashes, racing towards their destination.The first three were the good ones. This and the previous ones were downgraded the decent series. The makers are already working on the sixth. Definitely not expected, after seeing this particular film. But I hope it comes back to the original course with good story, actions, graphics and all. This was simply based on one liner, and the rest of the film leaned towards the stunt sequences. Okay to watch once, but I'm not sure worth of spending 90 minutes for it. So if you want to, then it is good to keep update to follow when the time comes to try the next ones.4/10