'Blade 2' review by MartialHorror

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BLADE II(2002)
(Directed by Guillermo del Toro)

"Time to kick some vampire ass!"- Signed by MartialHorror.

Plot: The human/vampire hybrid Blade must team up with the vampires to defeat a new and more dangerous threat.

Review:

“Blade 2” Is about as hardcore as you can get. It borrows its exploitation values from Italian splatter, it’s art design from Hammer and action from Hong Kong. It rips into you so heavily with it’s extreme violence, it’s over-the-top action and slick style, that you actually kind of forget that this isn’t necessarily a good movie. It’s lacks the character development and subtle-yet effective relationships of the first “Blade”, simply settling down as an extreme action flick. BUT WHO CARES!? Style wise, this film blows its predecessor out of the water. Sure, the substance is gone, but I’m okay with that in a strange kind of way.

The film begins with the biggest problem: Rebooting Whistler’s(Kristofferson) demise. Apparently after he shot himself in the head with what we presumed were silver bullets, he somehow survived, the rest of the vampires somehow tracked their base down(did they ever even explain how they did that in the original?), and took his body for no apparent reason. They don’t turn him into a vampire or use him as bait…They just keep him alive. My main problem with this is that Whistler, as badass as he was, just doesn’t feel necessary anymore. He’s underused and just seems to be there. Anyway, Blade(Snipes) finds him and brings him back, much to the ire of his new tech-freak, Scud(Reedus). Yes, they call him Scud. Scud and Whistler don’t take kindly to each other, but luckily the plot begins when ninja vampires attack. NINJA VAMPIRES! AWESOME WAY TO GET THINGS ROLLING!

Oh yeah, the film actually opens with two vampires beginning to pray on a homeless man, when suddenly the homeless man attacks them, turning into some uber-vampire. This is Nomak(Goss), the first of the Reapers, an evolved strain of vampire who are even more sadistic and dangerous than their counterparts. The Ninja vampires briefly attack Blade, but eventually stop and reveal they want a truce. One of the vampires takes off their mask revealing IT’S A SHE. That she is Nyssa(Varela), and Blade and her share a “I will pretend I dislike you while I am actually attracted to you” moment. They take Blade to the vampire base when Blade is asked to join the Blood Pack, a group of vampires who were being trained to hunt Blade. Blade agrees, only because the Reapers would eventually hunt down humans once vampires are out of the picture. So they go Reaper hunting, and that is the plot.

When “Blade 2” gets going, it barely stops. Del Toro sweeps us off our feat with gothic interiors, moody rain scenes, colorful yet bleak lighting in the vein of Argento/Bava and grotesque imagery that is genuinely unsettling. Just look at the Reapers mouths! Another major example is Nomak standing on top of what appears to be at least a dozen of corpses. Whereas the first film focused a bit more on suspense, “Blade 2” is only concerned with intensity. There is very little buildup, but it hits just as hard all the same. It also helps that the characters, while all being caricatures, are all interesting in their own way. I especially loved Snowman(Yen) and how he kicks that booty! Speaking of kicking booty, the fight scenes are all pretty damn good. While the choreography isn’t quite on par with the ‘Blade vs. Frost’ fight of the original, it makes up for it with more inventive fight scenes. They use their surroundings as part of the fights, and the use of CGI in them is pretty interesting to look at as well.

Wesley Snipes(Blade) is still badass, but he did less for me this time around. Don’t get me wrong, he’s great, but he also has less to do. Maybe it’s because there are so many supporting characters. But at least Blade is still the main character! “Blade 3” almost turns him into a supporting role! Kris Kristofferson(Whistler) does good, but lacked the cool one-liners of the first one. Leonor Varela(Nyssa) does fine, but really is the weakest link of the cast. Some moments come across as wooden, and the character isn’t all that either. Ron Perlman(Reinhardt) does a good job as the rival. Typical Perlman role, really. Luke Goss(Nomak) is freaking intense, but also is sympathetic. Norman Reedus(Scud) feels like a 90’s character, but he didn’t annoy me. Good job! Everyone else does great, but props to Donny Yen for his kick ass fight scene!

In retrospect, the film does have many problems. As I said, Whistler feels tacked on, but what happened to the heroine of the first movie? They never even mention her! While “Blade 2” definitely tightens up its plot this time around, perhaps it tightened a bit too hard. Everything feels kind of rushed and the set-up that the first film tried so hard feels like it was in vain. There is also some lame twist near the end that also didn’t completely work for me. Finally, as poetic as the ending is, it is inconsistent with…..Well, you’d know if you’ve seen the movie. However, it’s effective enough that I’d overlook it. “30 Days of Night” on the other hand…..shame on you for ripping this off and making it look worse! Finally, there is an off-screen death that pissed me off. But alas, “Blade 2” is meant to be an exorcise in revolutionary action sequences and extreme gore, and it succeeds. While I was watching this, I kept wondering if it was the biggest inspiration for “Punisher: War Zone”, which tries the same thing but is not as successful.

Violence: Heavy R. Very, very graphic. Definitely more violent than its predecessor.

Nudity: None.

Overall: “Blade 2” is a stylish, overblown, splatter/action flick with a charismatic lead actor and a great supporting cast! Of course I’m going to like it! But will you? If you know what you’re getting into, I suppose. Is it better than the first? As a movie, I’m going to say no. As a genre movie, I’m going to say yes. What does that mean? Figure it out! But at the absolute least, it’s better than “Blade 3”. Notice how all of del Toro's American ventures are all style over substance? This, "The Mimic", "Hellboy 2", they all lack strong scripts. But his foreign films are awesome.

3/4 Stars


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