Blade

I didn't see this movie until it appeared on television because I was doubtful about comic flicks. Ever since the "Batman" series, "Spawn," "Judge Dredd," and many other pitiful p.g.-13 bombs, I dodged everything at all cost. I would question in my mind, "why can't someone make a movie that is rated R and stays true to the story, how difficult is that?" And finally my prayers have been answered with Blade. This movie pops right out of the pages onto the screen with sheer violence, blood, martial arts, weapons, fire, the good against evil, etc. Yeah sure a lot of action flicks contain all these goodies, and most of them have bombed. But not Blade, the movie was filmed just right, not going overboard, delivering a good length and never a dull moment. Blade II is cool, but not as cool as the first. Blade is indeed one of the best real comic flicks I've seen in a long time.

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.

A hero's born to halt the chaos and confusion; to unmask, the guarded secrets of illusion; dressed in black, with sword on back, a mighty strength that others lack, a force arrives to clear the air, remove occlusion.

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.

Wesley Snipes is perfectly cast as Blade, a half human, half vampire known the daywalker. He has all their strengths and his only weakness is the thirst for blood. Since he teamed up with whistler (Kris Kristofferson) he has hunted down vampires who have lived amongst us unnoticed for centuries, but omnipotent overlord Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) is tired of living in harmony with the humans (Food as he calls them) and he plans to waken the blood god and take control of the world.

This movie is well cast, written and directed; ensuring the viewer has a thrilling ride from start to finish. Packed with great fight sequences and slick dialogue, Blade is certainly more action than horror, but it definitely delivers.

8/10

Blade was only a foetus when his mother was attacked by vampires and left for dead. When he is born he is born a half-breed. As an adult he has been joined by Abraham Whistler, a vampire hunter, to fight the secret war against the vampire culture. He hunts the impure-blood vampire Deacon Frost who plans to summon La Magra - the Blood God.

Now approaching it's second sequel, this film was a dark surprise to me as I didn't expect too much from it. The plot sees Blade hunting a dangerous vampire seeing to unleash the power of La Magra and take vampires from their shadows into the real world; we also get a bit of back story as well. This plot gives all the best lines to the vampires and not enough good scenes with Blade himself. I like Blade for the same reason as I like Batman - they are both messed up superheroes of a sort. The film tells us how Blade was created but it doesn't delve deep enough for my tastes - only once or twice did I really get a feel for his cruel, darker nature (`Please, I only work for them'). I suppose this was to be expected and it certainly manages the darker tone much better than the Batman films did (in the long run).

The action is good although it never really gets to the peak of the opening nightclub scene but is good nonetheless. Some of the effects in the final fight are a bit lacking and they make the usual horror movie mistake of showing too much and having it be less effective than the build up and suggestion of the monster was.

Snipes doesn't exactly display a great emotional range here but he is good in the title role nonetheless. He is a commanding presence and physically good at the action stuff. Dorff is pretty good as the main vampire - he is slick and plays it well to be a good representation of the `new breed' as the script requires. Kristofferson is cool and Wright is sexy while still being a good actress! The support cast contains no real standouts; Lathan is no more than a cameo and isn't really good while people like Lords only stick in the memory due to their name and not their performance.

Overall this is an enjoyably slick vampire/action movie. The end product may be more style than substance but the character of Blade is darkly interesting, even if neither Snipes nor the film really give too much away in terms of his inner workings. I have yet to see the sequel but I would hope that it keeps the same dark tone that makes this film stand out.

Hope the summary line won't irritate you that much (it's a little homage to the Chappelle Show/Charlie Murphy, but also to the character Daywalker). But I'll try to put all the things I liked about the movie in one paragraph and everything I didn't like in another paragraph, so it will be easier to read!

Let's start with the good things! The quote "strong bloody violence" (which is used by rating boards, to describe the content of a movie, does fit here very well. This is not a movie for kids! Or for the faint of hearted! It has Blade as a central character (Wesley Snipes is phenomenal) and a crazy enough story thread to hold/justify the action scenes! The original idea is also very engaging and intelligent. The action scenes are great here too.

OK over to the things I didn't like. The overall story is too thin. It's enough as I've written above to hold the action scenes together, but there could be more. And a character like Blade deserves more (imo). The drama therefor isn't the best ... also it's use of clichés doesn't help. Some characters are underwritten ... That's that! :o)