Blade 2

Is there anything worse than vampires? How about a mutant creature that enjoys the taste of both vampire and human blood? At least it is for Wesley Snipes’ half-vamp half-human vampire hunter, Blade, because it means he has to team up with the very race of creatures he has a vendetta against. In the blood-soaked and action-packed sequel to Stephen Norrington’s original ‘90s instalment, this is certainly the case. 

After he succeeds in his quest to find his grizzly mentor Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), Blade is approached by a family of vamps and asked to help them exterminate a strange creature that thrives on blood (human and vampire alike) and threatens to plague the world. Blade reluctantly takes the job leading a bloodthirsty pack of select assassins who are likely to sink their teeth into him at any moment, but gets more than he bargained for when he discovers a disturbing twist in the mutant’s origin story. 

What is there to say about a sequel that hasn’t already been said before? Well, yes I guess it has to be said that this movie does ramp a few notches up from the first, namely because this one is directed by Guillermo del Toro. It cannot be denied that the man has a great eye for action and horror and in Blade 2 each of these elements is ramped to 11. There is definitely more going on in terms of the action elements of the story rather than balanced narrative exposition; the story itself and its execution are kind of ho-hum, but I guess what does it matter when the weapons, the fight sequences, and the general badass-ness of Wesley Snipes and Ron Perlman are in the mix? The action sequences, although definitely dominating, are undeniably impressive in this movie: perfectly timed and choreographed so as to transfix you. But I do have to admit that this is all that is great about this movie. Me myself, I’m not so into the whole Blade thing. I can appreciate the novelty of the character and I did like the semi-scientific approach to vampirism that was taken in the first movie, but when a film relies on its central character and action sequences to survive (admittedly, films can make quite a living on those elements alone), I just tend to zone about because I feel as though there’s no balance of effort from all departments. 

In a nutshell, the director, the stunt team/actors, costume department, and prop team are the real heroes with the writers just sitting in the back seat asking if there’s anything else they can do. I even noticed in terms of performances that this movie doesn’t really demand much from the actors with Snipes almost having no lines at all. Protagonist-performance-absence is something that seems to only affect movies such as this where the character is so stand-alone cool and surrounded by such gripping action that they don’t need to offer more to their viewers (it’s a similar problem that plagued Fury Road). It’s a sad condition for films to suffer from, but simultaneously I can’t wholeheartedly say that it fatally attacks movies. It’s more like a skin condition or hayfever: not great, but can be lived with. Blade 2 does suffer from this condition, but thanks to del Toro’s gripping action sequences, it doesn’t inhibit the film too much. 

If you like the Blade character and if you liked the first movie, then you’re going to enjoy this one hands down.

Starring: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman, Leonor Varela, Normad Reedus, Thomas Kretschmann, Luke Goss, Matt Schulze, Danny John-Jules, Donnie Yen, Karel Roden, Marit Velle Kile, Tony Curren, Daz Crawford, and Santiago Segura. 

Rating: MA.