UNDERWORLD: BLOOD
WARS (2016)
Tagline: Every bloodline must end.
(Adventure, Action, Vampires) [R]
At the end of “Awakening,” I was pretty satisfied with the
addition of India Eisley even though we were now missing Scott Speedman (who
was replaced with a stunt double or CGI or
maybe a cardboard cut-out…who appeared for about 20 seconds of the movie). “Awakening”
was my favorite new installment in the series so this one had a lot to live up
to.
Apparently, Eisley (who played Eve in
“Awakening”) was too busy making artsy indie flicks to make the trip to the set,
or she had inexplicably been written out of this installment. I got used to the
idea that Michael wasn’t coming back and if he was he sucked as a father and
boyfriend. Apparently his reason for not returning after “Evolution” was that
he wasn’t a huge part of the script, so I am not blaming Scott here. However, his fate in this movie (where he is played by someone else for a few seconds)
was just a little shaky for my tastes even though it does set us up with a
formidable villain. Blood Wars has very strong acting throughout and intense
action sequences, which have become the series' staple. I bought it on the day
it came out on DVD if that is any indication of what I thought of this thing. If
there was an issue between the studio, India, and Scott, the writers overcame it.
I mean the plot for this thing is just freakin solid as heck. Introducing a
sinister Semira was not only brilliant but it deepened the lore behind the
vampire covens. The story also takes us back to really appreciating Amelia for
who she was after making it seem like she may have been a throwaway character
in UNDERWORLD that was still worthy of showing up in flashbacks. Theo James was so-so in this one as David but it doesn’t
appear any future stories will revolve around him. If you skipped Blood Wars,
pick up the DVD or BLURAY now.
It will likely be a very long time before we see
a vampire/werewolf series that comes anywhere close to matching the greatness
of this one. Just a reminder that having reasons for your characters on screen
goes a long way toward great story-telling.
GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF SCREEN GEMS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
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