So Wesley Snipes got out of prison this past week, which means a Blade 4 or whatever is probably going to be in the works as we speak. Now I liked the first two Blade pics, not the last one with Ryan Reynolds and something about a super vampire or whatever, but the Blade series has always been this campy, fetish style horror, action flick that delivered on what it wanted and that is about all you can ask for. I am not looking for something deep or prophetic, just Blade going around town, killing vampires, playing techno music and always betting on black.
The Marvel origin is retold in this 1998 Norrington film, with Blade’s mother dying as he is born. Thirty-some years later, Blade now exists somewhere between the two worlds, not human but not fully vampire. He has become a relentless and superhuman vampire hunter, out to avenge the death of his mother and protect the rest of humankind from the evil vampire race. In this pursuit, Blade storms a notorious vampire nightclub and in a virtual bloodbath manages to wipe out most of the blood-lusting denizens. But the burnt corpse of vampire Quinn (Donal Logue) is reanimated at the hospital morgue and bites hematologist Karen Jenson (N’Bushe Wright). Blade magically appears at the hospital just in time to whisk Karen to his hideaway, a machine-shop run by his mentor Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), who once rescued Blade and who now produces a antidote to keep Blade from turning into a full-fledged vampire and who builds custom weapons for Blade to use against his evil foes. Meanwhile, Blade’s vampire arch-nemesis Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) uses computers to translate the Book of Erebus, with the ultimate aim of bringing down the old-guard vampire council, headed by Dragonetti (Udo Kier), and triggering the Blood Tide — an event in which everyone in the world becomes a vampire. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
Blade is about as decent a vampire, sci-fi, action flick can get. Another of the Marvel stable of characters to get a movie treatment, Blade set about trying to marry together different elements of horror, science fiction, action, and a more visceral approach to vampire flicks with their 1998 attempt. I will admit, I fucking love Blade, when it came and even still today. Something about watching a vampire hunter who has every one of their strengths and none the weaknesses makes for a killer time. Snips is about as perfect of choice as you can get for this sort of action-centric character. Snipes has portrayed he can be that sort of 90s action star with his past films and getting a comic book character with a dynamic past. Sadly, the dynamic past is kind of muddled and lost in the films lackluster script, but there is plenty of vampire killing going on.
Snipes is intimidating as the badass daywalker Blade. He just strolls into a room full of vampires and just lets loose some silver and bullet and blades to dispatch and entire room of blood-suckers. His physicality is on point as he is imposing and capable of being that action star we want to see. His action sequences highlight his rough, street style fighting while the stakes are raised in just about every scene. Kris Kristofferson plays the older vampire hunter/father figure for Blade named Whistler. He ends up being the mentor for Blade while also being his only connection to the human side he possesses. Stephen Dorff plays Deacon Frost, the titular villain of the flick who is also this brash young vampire who shuns the apparent old ways of being a vampire and looks to usher in a new era of vampirism or something. I can’t remember because he just ends up being this blood god of the sorts and what not.
For it’s shortcomings, stiff acting and choppy plot/dialogue, Blade stills manages to be entertaining as hell with plenty of action scenes that have a punch to them that makes for a good time. It isn’t so much a visceral horror movie nor a straight-up science fiction, but it does manage to achieve the right points for action. I think that the movie wanted to be a big mash-up of genres, but it didn’t have that tight direction to make it work, thus limiting what could have been great potential. If anything, Blade works as a pretty by the numbers comic book movie that will feed your blood lust for vampire action.
