Some franchises age like wine. Harry Potter grew into a fine young man. The one-dimensional MI-6 agent eventually found his heart when he put down the cocktails. Even those high-speed criminals learned that part five didn’t mean slowing down. Sadly, “Underworld: Awakening” is no wine –– it’s more like old soda near the end of its shelf life. That doesn’t mean it isn’t enjoyable –– just not as fresh.

Selene (Kate Beckinsale) fires away in the somewhat sleepy "Underworld: Awakening". (photo courtesy of Sony Pictures)

The lycan (the far better synonym for werewolf) vampire war has long since dwindled, and the battle for the neck-biter throne led to the end of the rule of the nosferatu. With the shadowy threats of the underworld all but extinct, what remains? Apparently, the humans tired of remaining on the sidelines and chose to make these genetic deformities their new enemy. In the midst of a lycan and vampire cleansing, leather-clad Death Dealer Selene (Kate Beckinsale) and hunky lycan/vamp hybrid Michael (played by Scott Speedman in the first two films, but briefly cast as someone whose face is digitally altered much like the Schwarzenegger look-alike who appeared in “Terminator Salvation”) are separated, and Selene “awakens” (gotta love it when the film title is subtle) from a 12-year ice nap to a world void of everything she once knew.

She has no friends, a missing hubby and a new genetically created daughter, (even more subtlety) named Eve (India Eisley), who’s a hybrid just like daddy but now with the royal blood of the original immortal, Alexander Corvinus, thanks to mommy’s bloody drink in part two, “Evolution”. In Michael’s absence, we get two new dudes, vampire David (Theo Jones) and Detective Sebastian (Michael Ealy), who do their best to fill in for their near-invincible predecessor’s blue skin and massive claws. They do their best, but all the sexual tension is replaced with — well — not a whole lot.

Up to this point, the franchise has been enjoyable and moderately consistent, but “Awakening” is a substantial step down from the entertainment value of the others. In part four, the franchise ditches the entire mythology it set up, taking on a tone far too similar to “Resident Evil”. In place of hybrid, elitist vampires and ticked off werewolves, we get a slew of genetic experiments gone wrong (or right depending on your good/evil leanings). The “Blade” franchise is the clear victor in the vampires-as-mutations game, but “Underworld” always had the children-of-the-night lineage going for it. “Awakening” rewrites the rules and places the undead in a dystopian America, rather than a timeless Europe.

Beckinsale alone isn’t enough to carry this film. She plays the cryptic anti-damsel well, but she needs co-stars with a little more depth. It’s all been downhill since Bill Nighy appeared as vamp warlord Viktor and Michael Sheen as rebel lycan, Lucian (who both reprised their roles in “Rise of the Lycan”) in “Underworld”, and the new villains, mad scientist Dr. Jacob Lane (Stephen Rea), and his son, Quint (Kris Holden-Ried), who looks far too much like Coldplay’s Chris Martin, prove to be thinly developed foes. The other films equally focused on the big bad just as much as our pasty white heroes. Here, the antagonists remain in the background. Of course, they’re supposed to be clouded in mystery, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be more interesting.

For all its faults, at least “Awakening” succeeds where it counts: chases, pseudo-epic battles and lots of guns, grenades and even a rather cool whip. In the rat race for an Oscar, these films don’t care about the Academy or even the critics. There’s something rather comforting about mindless/mind-numbing art, and this is just what the idiot ordered –– mostly in a good way.

There are no signs of “Underworld” going under, especially with its cliffhanger ending, but hopefully the producers provide a little more intrigue the next time around. “Rise of the Lycan” was a solid period film about the impending war between titans, chock-full of crossbows, broadswords and spears; it’s hard to go back to Kate Beckinsale and her double-wielding handguns after a stellar actor (Sheen) leads a bunch of werewolves against their oppressive masters –– really, who doesn’t like a good underdog story? Beckinsale might be the original blue-eyed killer in this franchise, but she remains second fiddle to the “Underworld” mythology, which reached its peak hundreds of years before her character was even born. If the franchise goes back to that sense of wonder, it might stand a chance of lasting; otherwise, here comes another Lara Croft fiasco.