Blade: The Series

All of us who are fans of Blade, whether it be in the comic or movie form appreciate quality action/martial arts, great actors/acting, & a leading man who brings the title character to prominence. I was so looking forward to enjoying "Blade" with his cool demeanor & fantastic martial arts displays. Being a martial artist myself, the thrill of a TV series starring Blade caught my attention immediately.

Unfortunately, rapper-turned actor Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones is way above his head taking this role for the TV series. Jones is no LL Cool J, Busta Rhimes, or even Queen Latifah for that matter. Jones' portrayal of the fearless vampire hunter is beyond wooden; boringly comatose fits more in this case. Being a die-hard fan of the films expertly done by accomplished martial artist & actor Wesley Snipes, I find it hard to imagine any actor taking on the role of Blade without the athleticism & martial arts skills it takes to successfully pull off such a demanding part.

Jones looks awkward at best in the action sequences & could not copy Snipes' rendition of Blade to save his life! I was so disappointed with Jones' portrayal that I may not be watching much more of the series. The rest of the cast has a lot of potential but will have to carry Jones unless another actor is cast for the lead. In short, dump Kirk Jones & find another actor worthy of Wesley Snipes' Blade. As a concerned fan, I hope "Blade: The Series" does not stop fans from going to the theaters for any more "Blade" flicks. And hey Jones, stick to rap & give up acting!!!!!

Network: Spike TV; Genre: Action, Drama, Horror; Content Rating: TV-14 (for strong language, graphic violence and gore); Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);

Seasons Reviewed: Complete Series (1 season)

For their first big scripted dramatic series, Spike TV went to the movie well and got screenwriter David S. Goyer himself to adapt Marvel comic book character and movie trilogy star Blade for the small screen. Half-human, half-vampire, Blade (Kirk "Sticky" Jones, "Over There"), also known as The Daywalker, tries to infiltrate a vast highly sophisticated underground syndicate of vampires. Meanwhile, a battle brews between the infected, lead by Marcus Van Sciver (Neil Jackson), and the purebloods that rule the vampire bloodline, one of the leaders of which – in the show's best character twist - is 12-year old Charlotte (Emily Hirst).

"Sticky" Jones does a decent Blade, as well as Wesley Snipes, but even at series length Blade is an anti-social one-note force of martial arts destruction. The show compensates by bringing in an original character. After her brother is shot by Marcus in the pilot, Krista (Jill Wagner) ventures into the vampire underworld, is converted and is then flipped by Blade as a double agent on the inside. With Blade left to do nothing more than grunt and growl, the show follows Krista's rise to the right hand of Marcus - much to the chagrin of his beautiful partner Chase (Jessica Gower) - as he tries to develop a vaccine to kill the purebloods.

One of the most interesting things about the "Blade" movies was that vampirism was treated like a disease and the aristocratic depiction of the vampire culture and inside of which where political power struggles between the 2 "races". It is fertile ground for a series to explore and yet "Blade: the series" feels like a monumental missed opportunity. Vampirism is now sold on the street like a drug as "Ash", but otherwise the show can't think of any new avenues to take itself down. If we aren't getting action how about vampirism as a social metaphor? The whole production reeks of an inescapable feeling of creative claustrophobia. I know should be grateful, given how few shows like this actually are on TV, but good intentions don't keep me entertained.

But the marquee appeal of "Blade" was the comic book fight scenes. While the Pilot looks great (the visual style of the entire series is slick eye-candy), as the show goes to series the action is suffocated by the Spike TV budget. In order to pay for a CGI effect of vampire skeletons exploding into dust (or a bit like my favorite, where Krista decapitates a vampire with a street sign), "Blade" scrimps and saves every penny by padding the show with endless, endless, scenes of expository conversation and dramatic dialog, effectively turning "Blade" into a vampire-related drama instead of a comic book actioner. And that is the biggest, and likely unavoidable, mis-step the show makes. All the saving does pay off in the end. If you can make it that far the show delivers a satisfying face-to-face final battle between Blade and Marcus.

I should also make the point that the TV-14 rating given to the show by Spike is wildly, irresponsibly, inappropriate given the language and level of gore on display here. "Blade" is a basic cable TV-MA if I've ever seen it.

* * / 4

The vast majority of the cast members show promise, and the plot line seems to have been thoughtfully written. I'm not crazy about Sticky Fingaz' portrayal of Blade--his performance in the debut was wooden, as best--but I'll reserve judgment for a few episodes, and hope that with more experience comes more confidence, which will lead to better acting.

My biggest issue is with the combat scenes: more money and time should be invested in training Kirk Jones; the director needs to pace the action better; or the choreographer ought to rethink his/her sequences. Even the gun battles seem oddly envisioned and strangely out-of-synch.

I really didn't expect much when I first started watching the pilot, but I am pleased to say I was interested enough to watch the next episode, which I liked a bit better. I think that the length of the intro was a bit too long, and the story seemed to flow better in the second. However, the third was even better. Now this is saying a lot, considering I really wasn't a big fan of the movies. I find Kirk "Sticky" Jones much less annoying than Wesley Snipes, better looking, and without the awful hairdo. As a nice plus it's got a really cool intro. The story is getting progressively more interesting. I'll definitely continue to watch!

This series has some potential.

No, it's not the Blade movies, it is different. And that can be a good thing.

Once "Sticky" makes the role his own and stops trying to act like Wesley Snipes' Blade character, I think his role and his acting will improve.

The rest of the folks do a decent acting job and the story looks like it has an arc that can last a while. The supporting cast looks pretty strong. If Spike gives it a chance to develop an audience, I think it can stick around a few seasons.

Consider other titles that appeared shaky at first but went on to strong showings: Firefly, Buffy, heck, even Star Trek, TNG had a pretty shaky start but eventually the actors and writers found the characters and they developed them richly.