This one is aimed purely at the hard-core fans of the series … but what’s wrong with that? If you’ve enjoyed previous instalments of the vampire-versus-werewolves war, there’s plenty for you here.

Premise: Rogue Vampire Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is alone and on the run from both the Lycans (who believe her missing daughter is the key to their victory against the Vampires) and the Vampires (who still consider her a traitor for the murder of the Vampire elders Viktor and Marcus in the first two films). But shifting political alliances in the Vampire’s Eastern Coven, and the rise of a new Lycan leader, mean that Selene is soon drawn back into the war.

Verdict:

Even though there’s a recap at the beginning of Underworld: Blood Wars where Selene (Kate Beckinsale) narrates her story so far, if you’ve not followed the previous films in the series, you’re probably going to struggle to know a “Corvinus Strain” from a “Lycan-Vampire Hybrid”. This film assumes, for example, that you remember what happened to the Vampire elders Viktor, Amelia and Marcus in Underworld (2003) and Underworld: Evolution (2006), as well as what happened with David (Theo James), Thomas (Charles Dance), Eve and Michael in Underworld: Awakening (2012) – but I don’t necessarily think this is a bad thing.

“…if you’ve followed the series this far, there’s much to enjoy…”

There’s nothing inherently wrong with making a film purely for the existing fans of the series, and given that all of the films in the series have made a decent profit (due to the films’ modest budgets), it clearly makes commercial sense too. So, in very simplistic terms, you can sum up Blood Wars by saying that if you’ve followed the series this far, there’s much to enjoy in this (potentially penultimate?) chapter, but if you’ve never seen an Underworld film before, I wouldn’t suggest trying to jump on board the moving train with the fifth film in the series!

Plot wise, this film sees a return to the political manoeuvring that made the first film so enjoyable. In comparison, Evolution had a much more linear, quest-driven plot, whilst Rise of the Lycans (2009) was essentially just a feature-length flashback. Blood Wars also largely ignores the human-related subplot from Awakening, with no mention of the humans' “purge” against supernatural creatures. In fact, I don’t recall there being any human presence in Blood Wars at all, as it focuses purely on the escalation in the war between the Lycans and the Vampires. Of course, this could be explained by saying that the “purge” was centred around the Western Coven (which is now all but wiped out as a result), whereas this film takes place around the Eastern Coven – but really, if you’re here to nit-pick, this probably isn’t the film for you.

“…some of Britain’s best loved character actors hamming it up and clearly having a great time…”

In case you haven’t guessed yet, I am a self-confessed fan of the Underworld series – I don’t pretend that it’s high art, but I think it’s a hugely enjoyable slice of B-movie hokum. What I particularly enjoyed about Blood Wars, and the series as a whole, is that you have some of Britain’s best loved character actors hamming it up and clearly having a great time! Previous instalments have had award-winning actors such as Bill Nighy, Michael Sheen, Stephen Rea and Sir Derek George Jacobi, while Blood Wars sees the return of Charles Dance from the previous film, and the debut of the scene-stealing Lara Pulver, and the ever reliable Tobias Menzies.

As this is the fifth film in the series, the writers have (once again) cut loose some plot threads in order to keep the story focused on Selene. Just as Awakening got rid of Michael in the opening sequence, Blood Wars finds an excuse to jettison Selene’s daughter Eve straightaway (although she does then become the McGuffin for the film, as the search for Eve is the Lycans’ primary objective for the majority of the film). Kate Beckinsale does a good job of selling the emotional exhaustion that weighs on Selene, having first lost her “one true love”, and now her daughter.

Surprisingly, for a film series as convoluted as Underworld is, things do tend to tie together quite well from the various films – for example, it’s explained that Semira (Lara Pulver) has a history with Selene and Viktor (Bill Nighy), while Thomas and David have a connection to Amelia (the blink-and-you-miss-her Vampire Elder from the first two films).

And whilst some elements of Blood Wars do feel a little tired (each successive leader of the Lycans seems to be described as “the most powerful yet”, and someone seems to have been questing for Selene’s and/or Michael’s and/or Eve’s blood in every instalment since the first film), there are some interesting new additions to the Underworld lore, including a new Nordic Coven of mystical “hippy” Vampires.

“…it’s a blast…”

I mentioned above that I thought this could potentially be the penultimate Underworld film, and that is pure speculation on my part. But this film in general, and the ending in particular (which I won’t spoil), do feel like they’re building towards some kind of climatic resolution. And I for one would rather see the series bow out on its own terms with a deliberate “final chapter” (much as it appears that the Resident Evil franchise is doing), than fade away when it simply becomes uneconomic to make any further sequels.

Critically speaking, Underworld: Blood Wars has not been warmly received, but I’ve judged it against what it’s trying to be – another entertaining chapter in the ongoing series. And on that level, it’s a blast.