Underworld: Awakening opens with a recap of Underworld and Underworld: Evolution, as Selene (Beckinsale) recounts the story of how the war between the Vampires and the Lycans had taken a turn with the discovery of the hybrid vampire/lycan Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman in the first two films, here played by an uncredited stand-in). As the new part of the story begins, Selen describes how humans had discovered the existence of Vampires and Lycans and treated both species as a virus, slowly hunting down and eradicating them. Selene and Michael are chased to a waterfront, where Selene is knocked unconscious in an explosion. She awakens to find herself in a laboratory. Leaving the lab, she quickly learns that she's in a large building and that humans are attempting to keep her from escaping. However, she soon leaps through a window to freedom. She returns to the waterfront, only to find it closed and abandoned. Selene then learns that she has been asleep for 12 years. As if this weren't shocking enough, she begins to have visions, as if she's seeing through someone else's eyes. With the help of David (Theo James), a vampire, Selene comes across a mysterious teenaged girl named Eve (India Eisley). While continuing to search for Michael and trying to understanding the time which she is in, Selene will discover that Eve holds the key to the future.

At the outset, Underworld: Awakening almost feels like an apology for Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, as if the producers were saying, "OK, you didn't buy that movie set in the past, so here's more of Kate Beckinsale in our world." And there's no doubt that Beckinsale's return is welcomed. Selene is an interesting character, as she's a "Death Dealer" who has been specifically trained to kill werewolves, but she also has a conscience and tries to do what is right (while drinking blood every now and then). And bringing the story back to the present...or at least the near future...was smart, as it's great to see these gothic creatures in a contemporary setting.

But, it didn't take long for Underworld: Awakening to begin giving me a weird vibe. The idea of humans discovering the creatures and treating it as a virus is an interesting one, but it also brings up questions. In the first two films, it was stated that both the Vampires and the Lycans wanted to keep their existence a secret, but they never seemed to fear humans. Suddenly, they are on the run from them. Things get shakier when Selene awakens from a cryogenic sleep in a laboratory, only to find her old costume nearby. Now, isn't that convenient? Why would they have kept that in a display-like cabinet? Once Selene escapes, the story begins to lose control. We are introduced to police detective Sebastian (Michael Ealy), but his role remains small until the finale. Selene meets David and Eve and learns that small groups of vampires still exist, but this doesn't really go anywhere. A plot twist involving the lab from which Selene escaped helps to move the story some, and this takes us to the final battle. The first two films were almost ridiculously overwritten with many characters and subplots, thus this one feels hollow in comparison.

But, when that battle is over, we realize that the movie is only 78-minutes long once the end credits begin (and those credits crawl by for 10 more minutes), and this truly feels like a truncated experience. According to IMDB.com, the budget for the movie was around $70 million, but that money simply doesn't show up on-screen. There is a car-chase and two big battle scenes, but the movie doesn't feel action-packed. The most surprising thing was that the CGI werewolves didn't look very good. The effects in the other films were often seamless, but there the monsters look rubbery and don't seem to blend with the backgrounds very well. There's a shot in the finale where a character is pushed away from the camera and as they move, they begin to transform into a Lycan. It's a neat shot, but the CG looks like something from 15 years ago. Given the short running time of the movie and the occasional cheap look, I felt as if I was watching the pilot for an Underworld TV series and not a feature film.

Again, Beckinsale's return is exciting, but overall, Underworld: Awakening is a let-down. Swedish directors Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein give the movie a slick look, but it does nothing to improve upon the visuals introduced by original director Len Wiseman. As with the other Underworld films, distinguished British actors, here Stephen Rea and Charles Dance, were convinced to join the film and this does lend it some air of sophistication. And there's no doubt that it's great to see Beckinsale in her skin-tight suit shooting werewolves. However, the film's scattershot story (which took 4 people to create) and lack of any true suspense hurt it in the long run. Will the Underworld franchise continue? If they can bring back the tight plotting and interesting characters, I wouldn't mind, but otherwise, it can remain undead.

Underworld: Awakening made me wonder what kept Scott Speedman from doing a cameo here on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 25 Mbps. The image is very sharp and clear, showing no overt grain and no defects from the source material. The film preserves the blue look of the series, so the colors aren't always bright. However, they look fine and the image is never overly dark or bright. The depth is very good, even in this non 3-D version and the actors are nicely separated from the background. The level of detail is good and the image is never soft. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 3.2 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. Despite a bitrate which looks a little low for a 7.1 track, Sony rarely disappoints when it comes to audio. The surround sound effects are very good, most notably during the action sequences. These effects are nicely detailed and we can easily pick out individual sounds. The stereo effects are also good, as sounds moving from side-to-side bounce from the left to right channels and back again. The subwoofer effects are great and we feel every step a Lycan takes.

The Underworld: Awakening Blu-ray Disc contains an assortment of extras. We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Directors Man Marlind & Bjorn Stein, Producer Richard Wright, Producer Gary Lucchesi, and Executive Producer and Visual Effects Supervisor James McQuaide. The film can be viewed with "Cracking the Underworld: Picture-in-Picture Experience" which uses pop-up text and video clips to explore the history of the Underworld films. "Selene Rises" (12 minutes) looks at Kate Beckinsale's return to the series though interviews with the actress and the filmmakers. The characters of Eve and David, as well as the actors who play them, are profiled in "Casting the Future of Underworld" (13 minutes). "Resuming the Action" (9 minutes) looks at the work 2nd Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator Brad Martin, who shot many of the action scenes. We go behind the scenes to see how the werewolves were designed and built in "Building a Better Lycan" (10 minutes). "Awakening a Franchise, Building a Brutal New World" (19 minutes) has a discussion of the 3-D effects used in the film, the new camera technology which was utilized, and the production design of the movie. The Disc contains a 3-minute BLOOPER REEL and a MUSIC VIDEO for the song "Heavy Prey" by Lacey Strum featuring Geno Lenardo.