KATE BECKINSALE IS BACK FOR UNDERWORLD 4

I often find myself pondering which, between UNDERWORLD and the RESIDENT EVIL series, is the lazier action-horror franchise. And which one more grossly mishandles the music of Maynard James Keenan.

I'm gonna go with the former.

P.S.: Beckinsale deserves better.

Wasn't there a time that Beckinsale was considered a great actress instead of just a tight bum in lycra? I'm sure I remember an era when she was mentioned in the same breath as actresses such as Rachael Wiesz and Kate Winslett.

Maybe I dreamed it.

You can chock up her once-promising career as just another a sad casualty of Pearl Harbor.

Nah, Beckinsale was always B-team. Capable of solid work but nothing to write home about. I think she and Claire Forlani were basically battling it out for who'd get the Hollywood career, and Beckinsale got the upper hand at some stage.

I like Beckinsale, but she really has nothing tangible in her career at this point. No other franchises, not talented enough to land the Rachel/Kate/Cate roles, and too British to play in contemporary romantic comedies.

Looking forward to seeing her back in the catsuit though. I like the Underworld Series. Mostly.

I've always wondered if Rhona Mitra is a clone of hers. She sure looked like it in that last Underworld prequel.

That prequel was not too bad. I enjoyed how it's ending bookended with the first film.

Nah that's about right for her. Now, Michael Sheen, Derek Jacobi and Bill Nighy on the other hand - all deserve so much better.

I see the lovely Kate as one of our best leading female B-Action movie actresses. It's not like there are a ton of them out there, and I like catsuits. Alot.

The francise? It's gotten my money in the past, and I'm sure it will again. I've enjoyed the movies enough.

I also think she has some acting chops. I really liked Snow Angels.

Don't know about that. She was pretty good in Snow Angels, and damn good in Nothing but the Truth. But maybe 10% of this board has seen those, which means just about nobody in the mainstream has seen them. Nothing but the Truth got an especially raw deal, as the distributor went bankrupt right before release, if I remember right. So why not go back to this well?

I've seen her on various talk shows over the years, and she seems to have a pretty offbeat sense of humor. It would be interesting to see her in something by Apatow, but her looks would almost be distracting in something like that. I think she'd have to do something similar to what Charlize Theron did with Monster - something that no one really thought she could pull off mainly because of how good looking she was and how light her previous films had been up to that point...

Beckinsale's a decent enough Actress, but I doubt she's good enough to win an Oscar anytime soon.

Underworld was a good fit for her. She has plenty of chances to show off her curves and a large Werewolf/Vampire audience to develop a fanbase with.

She probably has a future in Action Heroine roles. If Angelina Jolie can do it in SALT, there's no reason Beckinsale (Who has better looks in my opinion) can't do it as well.

The first UNDERWORLD is such a joyless dirge of a film.

Actually it's funny because it seems the only people that can carry fairly big budget R rated action films are women. Seriously her and Mila seem to be the only 2 they are willing to bank on. Even people like Bruce Willis get fucking Die Hard cut to a PG-13. Ohh not to mention Terminator. You'll get small things like Machete but they cost nothing to make. Problem is as much as I like her and Mila I don't really like either franchise. If you could go back and tell a 13 year old me that I wouldn't like a franchise with karate zombies or vampires vs werewolves I would have called you a liar.

Ya know that sounds about perfect. She really should she is a great interview.

I don't quite understand this.

"Uptight befuddled Brit" only works when it's a guy doing the act, it seems.

She could always try TV. That's what Mitra is doing, being on Stargate Universe and The Gates. Although, I guess Mitra is taking the hot English chick roles, so that's what Beckinsale has to stay where she is.

Other than the "Love Actually" type of films, British actresses aren't normally cast in mainstream rom coms.

Of course you have Bridget Jones, but she was played by an American.

I suppose they can make yet another adaptation of Emma.

I remember trying to get my friends excited about the first UNDERWORLD, back in the day. This was before vampires were in vogue, and so my breathless enthusiasm for "vampires versus werewolves!" was difficult to relate to, I guess. I managed to get a few people to go with me and when it was over I felt more than a little embarrassed for the hype I'd been spewing. Hey, at least it was a free showing

Now it's years later and I've moved on but it seems Beckensale is still going back to the lycan well. I'm surprised people still care, but I guess we can thank the Twilight people for helping get this financed. Beckensale always does sturdy work (recently she was strong as an arctic researcher in WHITE OUT), and so I wish her luck with the new movie. If it helps to get BROKEDOWN PALACE 2: BACK TO THE BEACH greenlit (with Mr DiCaprio in the lead and Ms Danes returning with an eye patch), I'm all for it

PS There is a small part of me that resents Beckensale for swooping back in and stealing the series away from Mitra after having turned over the reigns to her. It feels kind of like the Leno/Conan debacle. I really like Mitra and she needs more feature work. Oh well

She deserves better than Whiteout. She has an Eye See You in her.

WHITE OUT was a strong concept but hurt by the limp direction and choice to use digi-snow in nearly every scene.

She worked just fine in SERENDIPITY. I <3 Kate B.

This'll get my money. I have an inexplicable (maybe not if you consider some of my tastes) hard-on for this shitty self-serious blue franchise.

WHITEOUT played like a TV Movie that was put on the big screen for some reason. It's so mediocre and by the numbers.

I actually watched WHITEOUT and INGLORIOUS BASTARDS as a Double Bill when it first came out.

I didn't like Serendipity at all, but that had little to do with Kate. I thought she was fine.

I'm with DARKMITE, in that I inexplicably like these terrible movies.

And I'll even cop to sort of liking SERENDIPITY.

Michael's an odd name for a girl!

For a gorgeous woman, Beckinsale just has zero screen presence. If you put her in a scene with a quality actor or even a bad actor with charisma, she disappears. She's Megan Fox with a better accent.

Surprised to see her going back to this tired franchise. Didn't she say she was done with action movies and wanted character roles


She doesn't look like she has much going on based off IMDB, so maybe this is all she can get. Too bad she was great in Snow Angles, Nothing But the Truth, and Everybody's fine.

Maybe she needs to be in something like AntiChrist

I was done with this franchise after the first movie. How do you make vampires vs. werewolves so boring?

Sounds like she tried to go the more respectable route and found her stock fading. Time to get back on the U-Train!

Does it even out that my ex-wife wouldn't allow me in the room when STEPMOM was playing, due to ceaselessly mocking it?

Ahem.

I think she was really adept at playing a hateful unlikable character in TLDOD. She showed alot of range in that film

For some reason any time I see her I think "Oh, who's that? She's pretty! Oh wait, it's Kate Beckinsale." For some reason I alway forget who she is.

4 Resident Evil films and 4 Underworld films. Mediocrity abounds in 2010.

Once again, the kernel of truth, dropped early, is stepped on in passing.

Holy shit, this is a real movie?! "Gary Oldman in the role of a lifetime?" Christ, I must find this!