So good and campy that I had to go ahead with the second one in the franchise. I certainly won’t be pushing any praise on that craptastic third Blade film, Blade Trinity, cause fuck that sucked. No I want to go into the often crapped on, but ultimately pleasing sequel to the breakout hit Blade with the sequel directed by Guillermo Del Toro. Yeah, he ended up making a wildly satisfying flick that gave us more of what made the original fun to watch, but neglected to give us anything in terms of plot, dialogue, or anything else that could have made this flick. But fuck all that, lets get to the Daywalker goodness of vampire hunting.
A half-vampire, half-human hybrid, Blade (Snipes) is a merciless vampire hunter bent on destroying the bloodsuckers that feed on humanity. The keys to Blade’s success are a serum that allows him to resist the urge for blood and an array of inventive, deadly weapons, both of which were once supplied by his mentor, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson). Since Whistler’s death, Blade has relocated to Prague and recruited the pot-smoking slacker Scud (Norman Reedus) to take the place of his father figure, but then he discovers that Whistler’s not dead after all: He’s been infected with the vampire virus. Reunited with Whistler, Blade is dealt an even bigger surprise: His greatest enemy, vampire leader Damaskinos (Thomas Kretschmann), wants to make peace with him. It seems that the vampires are facing a greater threat than Blade and hope to persuade him to fight the Reapers, a mutated super-race of vampires on a rampage of murder, indiscriminately killing both humans and their fellow bloodsuckers while sucking their victims dry. Blade agrees to a truce and joins the Bloodpack, an elite squad of commandos originally formed to fight Blade himself. Soon, the vampire soldiers discover that the virus responsible for creating their enemies is spreading rapidly and can be traced back to a mysterious “Patient Zero.” ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
Aside from the overall lackluster plot/story/dialogue/everything else that would have made this a perfect film, I still enjoyed all the little touches that del Toro brought to the franchise. That man has a certain way with how a movie looks in terms of the design and monsters, which certainly takes center stage in this movie. Everything that made Blade a fun, enjoyable movie experience is amped up a bit more in terms of Toro upping the stakes with a new breed of vampire and also a team of vampires that are meant to hunt Blade. Blade II brings together a lot more characters, more action, but leaves substance at the door.
I still enjoy the hell out of this movie, with the new hybrid vampires being absolutely ruthless and creepy to look at. Toro brings his eye for monster design to life with these new vampires that basically open their mouths like they are Cthulu. Those wicked looking jaws and crack junkie features make the new menace a lot more threatening, while the new vampire hunter teams have to deal with a brand new threat. It trips them up at first, but eventually they become easier to kill which makes their menacing presence a little discarded. But where that trips up, Blade and crew make up for in wanton violence. Snipes gets back into the grove with his unstoppable Blade and Ron Pearlman gets a sweet role as the leader of the Blood Pack, which is just Ron Pearlman essentially. All the characters in the film bring a little scene chewing to their respective roles, but I still love seeing these character archetypes just being there because they look badass. I mean you got a vampire hunter who just uses swords, one that carries a giant spike/hammer combo, one that loves big guns and a dagger user. They look pretty damn fly when they stand around and do nothing, but they all meet a sad death.
It’s a bloated horror, action movie that pushes style in our face, but it’s enjoyable because Del Toro is a master at this. Sadly the Goyer penned script doesn’t do well in terms of pushing narrative or having a compelling plot, but I like the movie overall for its gory action and fantastic fight scenes. That’s what makes me love the series, sadly it doesn’t translate to that third one. But overall is a fun horror, action movie that has awesome creature work in terms of the hybrid vampires and the look of the film.
