UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING

year: 2012 cast: Kate Beckinsale, India Eisley rating: ***

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: LYCAN PROTOCOL would be a fitting title – and that’s not such a bad thing. The mission seems impossible enough and keeps the viewer interested with tons of action, yet with a swift eighty minute running time the frantic pace isn't tiresome. And let’s put all the backstory behind and cut to the chase: Kate Beckinsale’s Selene, awakened from an icy coma, has a twelve-year old daughter sought after by a gang of awakened/determined Lycans. Eve is a hybrid of vampire and Lycan but with even more power and potential than Selene’s lost love. The only slight downtime occurs when Selene takes Eve underground where a group of vampires are hiding out, but the action starts up with a vengeance. Although the Lycans are too computerized to be scary, they’re built for speed. After all, this is action not horror, and for that it delivers.