Blade II

Blade 2 takes what made the first Blade film good and transforms it into a different country with different characters (outside of Blade and Whistler) and a possibly deeper feel, and it works without going into the bad sequel range.

This time, the vampires Blade (Wesley Snipes) has been hunting down for so many years want to make a truce so that he can help them kill a new breed of monsters called reapers, which if you want a brief description are creatures that look like half vampires half zombies and half, whatever, with a chin that opens up a big damn mouth that before attacking it's prey could resemble a mini-sarlac pit (star wars reference). Blade reluctantly agrees, knowing full well that the vampires could turn on him and Whistler if things go wrong.

Overall, Blade 2, for the fans of the first one, will not dissapoint them. It contains enough imaginativeness and gore effects to brighten the most down of horror film and comic book enthusiasts. The film also contains some of the best makeup I've seen in a while in a horror movie. A-

Having rescued Whistler from the grasp of the vampires and acted quickly enough to combat the vampire virus in his blood, Blade reforms his team. When his base is infiltrated by two vampires, he is offered a temporary truce that Blade accepts. He meets with the vampire council who ask for his help to track and kill a new strain of the vampire virus called the Reaper. The Reapers feed on vampires and humans, are immune to garlic and silver and threaten to rapidly multiple. Blade agrees to join forces but fighting alongside those he would hunt puts him very ill at ease.

Opening with the same style that made Blade enjoyable, it is immediately apparent that, if you liked the first film then you should enjoy this one just as much. The plot has quite a few major holes but I can't help eel it's a little unfair to attack a vampire horror movie for being a little illogical at times! What remains is a series of fast and stylish action scenes, held together by a reasonable plot and a nice few little twists and turns to keep it engaging. While the plot may only be average it is probably the dark action that you came for and it is as enjoyable as in the first film. The wirework was pretty good, mainly because the cast members involved could actually do it without looking like they had become members of Thunderbirds! The CGI stuff is not very good and the computerised characters, despite looking good, don't look or move real and thus take away from the energy and impact of the fights. Director del Toro handles the action well and also brings the same dark feel that he brought to Cronos and Mimic.

However generally the fights are good – good moves but still rather rough. Snipes has certainly worked on his body to the degree that he can perform these moves with a natural feel, only the WWF style moves came across as being rather silly or ill fitting. As a leading man he has really come on since reinventing himself as an action hero, and Blade is his best character in that regard. This film scales back on the complexities of his character and it damages the film a little bit but chances are that isn't what you came here for! Kristofferson is good but his character isn't really used well here. Perlman uses his screen presence well and he holds his own with Snipes. Varela is quite sexy but again the script doesn't use her relationship with Blade as well as it could do. Goss is very good in this role and it bodes well but I'd need to see him play a character (as opposed to a monster) to be able to judge if he has real ability as an actor – all the makeup also helped forget his Bros personae too. Jules is a very strange find but he looks good. Donnie Yen was, as he often is, poorly used – he has one small fight scene but considering the amount of martial arts action in this movie it would have been better to have actually used him in more of the action; wisely the film uses him better as the main fight choreographer.

Overall this is an enjoyable action movie with a horror twist. The plot is OK and has enough to it to be engaging despite having several themes that it should have done more with. The action is solid and enjoyable and not too hurt by the odd bit of poorly used CGI. A good cast helps and the action flows reasonably consistently to produce an enjoyable two hours of dark style.

Sequels are always tough but I personally love sequels, sometimes even a bad sequel is good just because you missed the characters. Blade 2 brings Wesley Snipes back as a kick-butt action hero who is also part Vampire...how can you go wrong with a story line like that? I will say Blade 2 doesn't touch how good Blade was. Blade was a deep story, packed with action, and depth, and was so fascinating and dark. Blade 2 keeps it's dark appearance which is very good...I would hate to see Blade go soft on us. It's a relief that they also went out of their way to bring back Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) who gives us a anti-hero...something just not right about his character and yet he's like Blade's only weakness because of his love for his mentor and father-figure. In this story, Blade is approached by the Vampires seeking his help this time. Something is hunting the Vampires and ripped them to shreds and in the process creating something worse than a Vampire. They are called Reapers. Blade agrees to join a squad of mercenary Vamp killers who were trained to kill him originally and work with them to rid the world of these Reapers who will eventually turn on humans. Blade still doesn't let his guard down and doesn't trust his new allies. This is the basis of the story. The story is very shallow and could have been written so much better. It had so much potential and I just think they got through it as quickly as possible. Fortunately for them it's action packed, and the fight sequences are still pretty good. But for the most part the savior is Wesley Snipes and Kris Kristofferson returning in their roles. They save the movie they make it worth while because they are just great super hero's. Otherwise the movie is lost in RIDICULOUS special effects, that I could do sitting at home in front of my Desktop computer. The effects are computer generation and they show, you can pin point exactly where the real people end and AI takes over. It's annoying and campy. The music is just absolutely lost in this one. In the original Blade the music is unbelievably complimenting the story line and Blade. It's thumping and exciting and makes you heart race. In this one, the music is barely a part of it. Blade's sudden use of a magical gun that explodes Vampires into little computerized sparkles of dust is just plain stupid. Now can you believe after all those things I just listed that I would still tell you to go see this movie??? As I said, the original characters make it worth while and some of the new Vamps are interesting. I sincerely hope they carry on the Blade franchise but I hope they go back to the original Blade to continue from and not Blade 2. Definately go see it for action and just because Blade rocks but don't be surprised if it's not quite what the first one was. I give it a 7/10

I have a weak spot for comic-book action. Something about the mix between today and the supernatural has always drawn me to it. And i found the first "Blade" to be one of the more entertaining in the genre.

Blade (Wesley Snipes) has been looking for his old-time companion Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) for a long time. Whistler was taken captive by vampires and Blade has slaughtered his way through the vampire clans of several countries to find him. Now though there is another threat to the human race that also affects the vampires themselves. Soon Blade is given an offer he can't refuse, resulting in a unholy alliance between the vampires and their greatest enemy.

Guillermo del Toro is a man with what the Germans would term "fingerspitzengefühl". He's got that special feeling for what works on screen, especially when it comes to movies like this one. Blade 2 refines most of the elements seen in the first Blade movie. This is a violent and action-filled journey into a comic-book world and del Toro is not taking any prisoners. Wesley Snipes seems to enjoy himself as Blade and most of the other actors also seem to blend in nicely in the mood of the film.

There were only a few minor flaws that bothered me. Most of all the sometimes shaky CGI-work. Some of the special effects look cheap to say the least. Especially the use of digital "stand-ins" for the actors that are used in some action scenes to spice them up a bit. All in all though this is an entertaining ride in it's overblown testosterone-rich way. I rate it 6/10.

Beneath the streets, behind facades, above the law; conglomerations old and new, slash, shear and saw; unseen but all around, vigilant of every sound, taking lives, destroying chances, tooth and claw.

But a new strain has evolved and it bites back, renders vampires into beasts weapons can't crack, an allegiance is convened, to destroy the new obscene, with a violent and quite viscous, counterattack.

One of the more accomplished takes on the vampires taking over the world genre, with one of the more accomplished, and even to this day spectacular incarnations of a vampire slayer there's been.

The blood flows proportionally.