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Underworld: Blood Wars | 2017 | R | - 6.8.5
In this fifth sequel a vampire death dealer (Kate Beckinsale) confronts a large pack of werewolves, as well as enemy vampires. She finds useful alliances in a vampire-wolf hybrid (Theo James) and a Nordic Coven leader (Peter Andersson), who aid her in plans to end the eternal blood feud between the wolves and the vampires. Also with Tobias Menzies, Lara Pulver, Clementine Nicholson, Bradley James and Charles Dance. Directed by Anna Foerster. [1:32]
SEX/NUDITY 6 - A woman wearing a gown with cut-outs that bare most of her chest (we see breasts but no nipples) and buttocks caresses the lips and face of a man in close-up before he disappears below the frame; the camera cuts to his head and face in her groin but hidden by the gown and a bare thigh as he kneels, indicating oral sex (his head moves up and down) and she gasps. We see the faces and necks of a man and a woman in horizontal position, gasping, in a blurry flashback as we hear that the couple had a child later.
► Two women kiss on the lips for several seconds. A man and a woman kiss briefly. A man slams a woman into a wall twice, kissing her each time for several seconds.
► Several dozen men expand in size, ripping out of their clothing to become hairy werewolves (we see backs, chests, abdomens and buttocks. Please see the Violence/Gore category for more details); they have no visible genitals. Four men in different scenes are shirtless. A woman wears floor length gowns that reveal significant cleavage with a neckline cut to below the waist. Two women wearing backless dresses each reveal the side of one breast (no nipple shows). Several women wear body-hugging leather pants and jackets that emphasize curves in dozens of scenes. A few women wear moderately low-cut tops and blouses that bare moderate cleavage.
VIOLENCE/GORE 8 - A man in a castle fights with a huge werewolf, using guns, swords, knives, kicks, punches, and throws: we hear shouting and groans and see some blood splatter (bullets do not kill them and they each stand and roar as hundreds of bullets drop out of their bodies); after a prolonged fight, the man uses a sword to cut the werewolf in half from neck to groin (we see blood vessels and muscle tissue, with a little blood flow) as the camera cuts to the man on a staircase, holding the severed head of the werewolf by the hair (it's been transformed to a human head and neck dripping blood and gore).
► We see a half dozen violent clashes between vampires, werewolves and hybrids: Fights include hand-to-hand combat with punches, kicks, throws, chokes, and body slams with several men and two women thrown into walls and floors, falling and rolling (a little blood shows on their faces); several men and werewolves stab one another and we see a few close-ups of gushing blood, a man is stabbed in the eye and shudders as we see some blood; werewolves and vampires shoot assault rifles and werewolves launch mortars through a castle wall and shattering windows, many men and a few women fall dead from bullet or sword wounds that show some blood and from sunlight that burns up several men and women as if they were paper catching fire and blackening to ash (a woman's long dress is completely soaked in blood from werewolves that she killed). A woman in a coma is seen strapped to a gurney with large bore needles in her neck and tubes running to glass spheres to capture her blood; two men pull out the needles, which drip blood, and carry her away as another woman with a sword fights one of the men (we hear clanging); she stabs him in the side as he faces the camera then stabs him through the back of the neck and out the mouth, where we see massive gore and gushing blood. A woman kisses another woman and stabs her under a chin, blood gushes, and the victim chokes and falls dead in a pool of blood. A man is shot with a large rotating bullet and a woman cuts across his abdomen in close-up to pull it out (we see it still rotating and now bloody as some blood flows from the incision); the man is seen completely well later.
► A woman and a huge male werewolf fight and he throws her through a stone wall and onto a stone ledge where she pulls him over the side as she falls onto ice and he lands on his side; they get up and fight, opponents flying or sliding across ice to hit walls and repeatedly getting up as we hear the werewolf roaring several times; a man stabs the woman from the back through the chest into the camera and we see blood as she falls into a pool of blood and slides through a crack in the ice into a moat. A man and a woman fight in a cage fight with punching, kicking and throwing, and also walking on the walls; the man stabs the woman in the hand with nightshade coating his blade and she falls comatose as the man shoots two handguns, killing about 20 male and female students who fall, with a little blood on one or two of the people. A man and a vampire queen fight with swords and kicking, each fighter falling and being thrown into walls (a little blood is seen on mouths and foreheads); a sword sticks into the man's thigh (we see a little blood) and the queen opens a window to shine sun light on the man, but it does not harm him and causes a puff of smoke to rise from her facial skin as the man jumps out of a window (it shatters loudly), carrying another woman with him. During a battle, a once dead woman appears as a flashing sheet of wind and then solidifies into a black clad woman with white hair and a white cloak; she stabs and shoots many werewolves and we see blood gush several times.
► Two women and a man have blurred flashbacks (please see the Substance Use category for more details) showing Lycan Clan werewolves and Vampire Clan members fighting: We see Vampires and Lycans biting and slashing opponents with gore and blood splatter, a werewolf's head is sliced in half diagonally to show red circular tissues and the pieces slide apart as we see blood gush, the body of a man with his back facing the camera hangs upside down and blood drips on the floor, a baby cries in close-up briefly and we hear that its father died and the baby as a young girl child went missing.
► A vampire woman twists the head and neck of a seated man and he dies with loud crunching sounds. A woman shoots a man at least 100 times, without effect. A woman shoots a man in both insteps, showing blood flow and causing the victim to squeal. A woman is shown pierced by small spear heads attached to cables, but she escapes and pulls out the points showing some blood. A close-up of a cage fight shows the stomachs and legs of two men and they deliver knee kicks to each other's midsections.
► Three scenes show the bodies of men lying prone on stone floors, some with swords sticking out their backs; we see charred skeletons and clothing of dead vampires. After a battle, we see fallen bodies of werewolves and some vampire men, charred. A woman, dead after a fight, is wrapped like a mummy and slipped into a rejuvenation pool. A woman wraps a female in bandages, explaining to another woman that the body is not dead but "becoming" and three other mummies hang from the ceiling, fully wrapped.
► Three gunrooms are seen with assault rifles hanging on walls and cases of rifles, ammunition, and explosive devices as well as metal clubs and spears; swords and lances hang on the walls. Coffin-like cases filled with assault rifles are off loaded from trains. In several scenes, men and women point handguns or rifles at one another, but do not shoot. A werewolf leader slaps subordinates on the back of their heads and slams them onto walls during weapons-and-war preparations. Men and women on motorcycles shoot handguns to points off camera.
► We hear bones crunching and clothing ripping as dozens of men quickly transform into werewolves (Lycans); their heads and shoulders are huge and hairy, with glowing eyes, dirty sharp teeth and claws, and huge mouths roaring and slobbering saliva into the air; the leader is louder and larger, about 12 feet tall, and we see him drink blood twice and inject blood from a syringe into his arm once in close-up. A close-up shows blood drops falling into a large beaker of water.
► A man orders his subordinates to kill all vampires. A vampire queen orders her guards to kill a vampire leader. We hear that a woman vampire killed a male vampire who was her protector. A woman says to another woman, "I need your blood." A man says to a woman "I want your daughter's blood."
► Vampires are clothed in all black, with black hair and fangs, or white clothing with white hair and fangs; the white coven members vanish and reappear elsewhere in the room several times during battles, both black and white vampires jump up walls and cliffs to rocky ledges and balconies. Vampires in several scenes taste or drink blood (please see the Substance Use category for more details).
LANGUAGE 5 - At least 2 F-words (one obscured), 2 mild obscenities, name-calling (incompetent, old vampire), 2 religious exclamations (sacred chants in a foreign language with no translation).
SUBSTANCE USE - A party scene features men and women drinking large glasses of blood, a woman drinks from a huge goblet of blood and spills it on her chest before dropping it with a crash below the frame (we see her own skin along arms and shoulders turn veiny and red for several seconds), a man injects blood into his own arm and gasps in pleasure as if it were a drug, a man drinks a vial of blood, several men and a woman each drink a drop of blood and look amazed with how strong they feel, a woman drinks blood from a knife, a woman drinks blood from a cut on a man's wrist (her teeth turn red with blood), a woman drinks blood from her own wrist (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details), we hear that a little girl's blood has magic powers and that her mother's blood brought a man back from the dead, vampires of two covens set up urns of blood in a castle room and pass out glasses of blood for members to drink for increased strength, and we hear that nightshade was used to coat a knife blade to poison or at least paralyze a woman.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Long-lived supernatural beasts, magic blood powers, blood feuds, hybrid wolf-vampires, spell casting, resurrection, genocide, ethnic cleansing, survival, escape, safety, determination, persistence, family, loyalty, sacrifice, death, grief, love, trust, cooperation.
MESSAGE - Never stop fighting for your family, your ethnic group, or justice.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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