There’s little point in stepping in for the 4th edition of the Underworld vampire fantasy series if you’re not already a fan. “Death dealer” Selene (Kate Beckinsale), a vampire, awakes from 12 years in cryogenically frozen captivity, right where she left off: fighting the Lycans (a werewolf species). And, surprise, she has a daughter now! Awakening briefs you on the first three movies, but its only relatively comprehensible plot serves as a stage for repetitive, gratuitous violence that those without sensitive constitutions might find funny. Selene’s trademark is double-fisting machine pistols on automatic—it’s possible 20 of the 88 minutes are spent this way. Don’t fear, devotees, Beckinsale will don her catsuit again in the 5th edition; Awakening ends with that promise.
This article appears in Jan 19-25, 2012.