Underworld: Awakening
Screen Gems | Release Date: January 20, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
39
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
5
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
Village VoiceNick PinkertonJan 20, 2012
The entire production is single-mindedly, earnestly devoted to serving up feats of BADASS, and it succeeds in this devotion to the exclusion of everything else. Allegedly in 3-D, though I didn't notice at the time. Read full review
70
TimeRichard CorlissJan 20, 2012
Not quite in the class of the first film, Underworld 4 is still the most enlightened girl-power film of the week, nosing out Gina Carano's "Haywire" by the length of Pinocchio's proboscis. Read full review
70
VarietyJoe LeydonJan 20, 2012
Once again, Beckinsale brings an impressive physicality and subzero cool to her portrayal of Selene. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyAdam MarkovitzJan 20, 2012
Why are they fighting again? Never you mind. Just sit tight till the next action sequence (it won't be long), and get ready to laugh - with equal parts scorn and fanboy joy - as Beckinsale strikes another Rodinesque pose under a slo-mo shower of inhuman innards. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandJan 21, 2012
There's not much to this movie beyond a slick procession of dark, gleaming violence. But Selene lovers would pay good 3D money to see her fight a parking ticket. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesGlenn WhippJan 21, 2012
A brisk creature-feature that ditches the series' dreary mythology in favor of a more direct, action-oriented approach. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTom RussoJan 21, 2012
A sequel seemingly eager to assert that monster mashes are about B-movie chills not "Twilight'' melodrama. Eager to a fault, ultimately. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckJan 20, 2012
More aggressively violent and thankfully less mythology driven than previous installments, Underworld: Awakening is strictly for the converted. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJan 20, 2012
Anyway, "Children of Men" this ain't, though the inert directing of Len Wiseman (who helmed the first two films and has a producer credit here) has thankfully been replaced by Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein, who seem to have a lot more verve and even some visual whimsy. Read full review
40
EmpireKim NewmanJan 20, 2012
Not a complete disaster, but also not the vampire / werewolf mash we've always wanted. Read full review
35
MovielineAlison WillmoreJan 20, 2012
Murky and perpetually bluish in tinge, Underworld: Awakening does and gets little with the 3-D in which it's being offered, and ends by shamelessly setting up a further and fatally unnecessary installment. Read full review
30
Boxoffice MagazineNick SchagerJan 21, 2012
Kate Beckinsale can still fill out a skin-tight leather bodysuit, but with Awakening, the vampires-vs-werewolves Underworld franchise has finally decayed beyond the point of repair. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesJan 25, 2012
There is running, hiding, fighting, shooting, bleeding, biting, slicing, dicing, and damnably little entertainment value in any of it. Read full review
20
Time OutMatt SingerJan 20, 2012
Also missing: the series' reliable camp heavies, Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen, and most of the so-called Lycans who, their appearance in a few respectable action sequences notwithstanding, are now nearly extinct. So is this franchise. Read full review
16
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonJan 20, 2012
Watching the film is strangely like looking at the same three still frames of supernatural battles over and over for 90 minutes. Read full review
12
Slant MagazineRob HumanickJan 20, 2012
The only thing that manages to outpace Underworld: Awakening's ineptitude is its utter soullessness. Read full review
0
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJan 20, 2012
Latest, dreadful entry in the vampires-battling-werewolves franchise. Read full review
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