Released: 22 March 2002
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Budget: $54 million
Stars: Wesley Snipes, Leonor Varela, Luke Goss, Ron Perlman, Norman Reedus, Kris Kristofferson, and Thomas Kretschmann

The Plot:
Half-human, half-vampire vampire hunter Blade (Snipes) is recruited by vampire overlord Eli Damaskinos (Kretschmann) to lead an elite vampire team against the genetically-engineered “Reapers”, led by Jared Nomak (Goss), who threaten the survival of both humans and vampires.

The Background:
Created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, the extremely obscure, culturally problematic vampire hunter Eric Brooks/Blade debuted in the pages of The Tomb of Dracula and, as unlikely as it was, kick-started the modern superhero genre as we know it back in 1998. After years of development and rewrites, Blade (Norrington, 1998) was both a commercial and critical hit and virtually redefined star Wesley Snipes’ position in Hollywood. Plans for a sequel immediately made the rounds, with writer David S. Goyer initially wanting to feature Doctor Michael Morbius as a main villai. Though rights issues prevented that and director Stephen Norrington refused to return, the production scored noted auteur Guillermo del Toro. A noted comic book fan and desiring vampires to be scary once more, del Toro brought a visual language to the film that drew inspiration from various media sources and ensured the film’s visual effects would stand the test of time by incorporating traditional practical effects, bringing in Tippett Studio and XFX to achieve the best of both. Additionally, Snipes was excited to revisit the role, working hard to maintain his physique and given a lot of creative freedom regarding the character’s portrayal. Despite a worldwide box office return of $155 million, Blade II was met with mixed reviews that praised the gory action but questioned the mindless narrative. Of course, this wasn’t the end for Blade. It was followed by a widely–panned third film two years later, a short-lived TV show two years after that, and Snipes even surprisingly reprised the role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ahead of a complete reboot.

The Review:
Blade II takes place some years after the first film (at least two, it seems) and opens with Blade giving a quick recap of his origins, powers, and mission statement while also clumsily retconning one of the most emotional moments of Blade. Attacked by Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) and left mortally wounded, Blade’s gruff mentor and surrogate father, Abraham Whistler (Kristofferson), demanded Blade leave him his gun so he could finish himself off and avoid turning into the thing they both hated, a blood-sucking vampire. However, it turns out that Whistler either didn’t kill himself or was found by another group of vampires or was potentially too late to stop the change or somehow revived and turned after killing himself as he was spirited away all over Europe. Kept alive in stasis and constantly moved around for reasons not explained here (or ever), the now vampiric Whistler eluded Blade during the time gap, but Blade II catches up with the stoic Dhampir finally locating his lost mentor. Once again, Blade can’t bring himself to finish Whistler off and instead chooses to take him back to his base, despite the inherent risk he poses to him and his new mechanic/armourer/lackey, Josh Fromeyer/Scud (Reedus). Yet, Blade isn’t blind to the possibility that Whistler is beyond salvation. He shoots Whistler up with a concentrated dose of his serum (the only thing keeping Blade’s “thirst” for blood at bay) and threatens to burn him to ash if he hasn’t gone “cold turkey” by the morning. Although Whistler appears to fully recover (except for his gammy leg), the question of his trustworthiness is raised multiple times throughout the film, with Scud and Blade’s newfound vampire allies both being aggressively suspicious of the grouchy old man’s true intentions. Yet, Whistler remains one of the few people Blade truly cares for. While I’m not a fan of undoing Whistler’s poignant death, he’s a great foil to the others, barks some amusing lines, and adds a great deal of emotional depth to Blade, a character largely known for hiding his humanity behind a grim-faced façade.

Still, Blade II gives the character (and Snipes) more screen time and more of a chance to showcase some emotional range. He says a lot with just a glance or some quick hand gestures but isn’t above mocking Scud’s reluctance to assist in the Reaper autopsy by calling him a “sissy” and seems to enjoy winding up the Bloodpack. In particular, Blade develops a quick rivalry with unashamed sadist Dieter Reinhardt (Perlman), humiliating the outspoken racist in front of his peers and engaging in a constant game of one-upmanship that naturally results in them coming to blows by the film’s end. A quiet, solitary individual, Blade lives only for his mission. He’s still at war with his base instincts, taking his aggression out on the creatures that created him, but embraces his animalistic side when near death to effortlessly dispatch Reinhardt’s goons. Blade’s physical prowess is at its peak here; Snipes excels in fight scenes, which showcase his dexterity and agility, and Blade easily manhandles and outfights multiple foes, even while unarmed. Gifted with all a vampire’s strengths but none of their weaknesses, Blade can afford to be cool and confident in battle, quickly healing from any wounds and taking the lead whenever their mission ventures into sunlight. When approached by Asad (Danny John-Jules) and Nyssa Damaskinos (Varela) and taken to Overlord Damaskinos with the promise of a truce, Blade goes along out of curiosity, his awesome trenchcoat packed full of explosives, and immediately recognises that getting into bed with the vampires to combat the Reapers will inevitable result in them being betrayed. However, he’s eager to delve deeper into the inner world of his enemy and learn more about them to fight them better, and constantly demonstrates that he can take out the Bloodpack, despite them training for two years specifically to fight him, thanks to his superior skills and fancy toys. Although Blade is initially incredulous about Nomak’s threat since the Reapers actively hunt vampires, he recognises their threat to humanity and the vampires must reluctantly defer to his orders since the best method of fighting the Reapers is to use ultraviolet light. While there’s no mention of what happened to Doctor Karen Jenson (N’Bushe Wright), Blade battles Nomak using a variation of the anticoagulant weapon she developed that finished off Frost, though he’s just as dependent on his serum as ever and it doesn’t appear to have been improved between movies.

In her place, Blade has a new love interest: Nyssa. Nyssa delivers a unique insight into Blade, revealing that vampires think of him as a bogeyman, and she’s just as interested to see his world as he is to see hers. While most of the Bloodpack is antagonistic towards Blade and his allies, Nyssa respectfully defers to Blade’s orders while warning him not to interfere in vampire business since their mission is to target Reapers. As they encounter the voracious vampire variants, Blade constantly moves to either protect Nyssa or keep her from being burned up by sunlight. He could easily let her run into danger or be vaporised by Scud’s ultraviolet grenades, but time and again holds her back and orders her to seek cover. Indeed, he saves her life and showcases a honourable valour so often, even slitting his wrist to revitalise her after a Reaper attack, that Nyssa comes to greatly respect him as a warrior and equal. Just as Whistler worries Blade’s loyalties are becoming divided by Nyssa’s allure, so too are Nyssa’s loyalties to her family and her kind tested by the conflict she feels over the man painted as her hated enemy. These feelings are only exacerbated when it’s revealed that Damaskinos engineered the Reaper strain, even infecting his own son with it, and cares little for his children, firmly setting her against her father and her dishonourable species by the finale. Blade brushes off Whistler’s concerns, confident that he retains the upper hand, but Scud remains suspicious of Whistler, especially as the old man leaves his post and seems to have recovered unnaturally quickly. Scud, a pot-smoking rebel, appears to have no love for vampires and delights in pimping out Blade’s muscle car and cobbling together new tech for him, including a small bomb Blade implants on Reinhardt’s head and those ultraviolet grenades.

Although Asad and Nyssa seem excited (or, at least, intrigued) to be fighting alongside Blade, the same can’t be said for the rest of the Bloodpack. These colourful and largely one-dimensional, leather-clad vampires have spent the last two years training to hunt and kill Blade and, seeing him before them, struggle to not simply jump him. While mute swordsman Snowman (Donnie Yen) seems to at least respect Blade, Reinhardt doesn’t. He accosts Blade right away, comes close to shooting him in the vampire club, and is happy to leave him to fight legions of Reapers alone. Reinhardt’s hatred of Blade is matched by the pugnacious Chupa (Matt Schulze), who transitions his aggression towards Whistler when the old man’s brief desertion leads to the infection and slow, agonising death of his friend, Priest (Tony Curran). Although Priest immediately and painfully begins to mutate into a Reaper shortly after being bitten, the brutish Lighthammer (Daz Crawford) somehow resists turning for about a day. When he does, he blindsides Snowman with his massive battleaxe and ends up being incinerated by his lover, Verlain (Marit Velle Kile), who takes herself along with him. Though well-equipped, the Bloodpack are slow learners; despite seeing first-hand how ineffectual bullets (both regular and silver) and even blades are against the Reapers, they continue to waste ammo, presumably out of fear of roasting each other with their ultraviolet torches. The Reapers prove to be especially vicious and durable foes; essentially grotesque mutations of vampires, not unlike the goblin-esque Damaskinos, their hunger is likened to that of a crack addict, meaning they quickly spawn an aggressive army. Sporting superhuman strength, advanced healing, and a nigh-impenetrable skeletal structure, the Reapers leap at their prey and latch on with their horrifying split jaw, feeding and creating new minions for Nomak’s crusade against his father. Though they’re also destroyed by sunlight, the Reaper’s physiology is incredibly resilient and Nomak easily recovers from broken limbs and even a bullet to the head. Nomak demonstrates a reluctance to fight Blade, believing they have a common enemy and should be on the same side, but Blade vehemently rejects such a notion and chooses the devil he knows in opposing the new threat since, by and large, the Reapers are far more animalistic than the more sophisticated vampire nation.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Retaining the slick, gothic aesthetic of the first film, Blade II continues to marry leather fetish with a gritty, urban vibe, one bolstered by a surprising earworm of a soundtrack. I’m not really a hip-hop kinda guy but I can never get Massive Attack and Mos Def’s “I Against I” out of my head after watching Blade II. Having manipulated or forced their way into positions of political and social power, there are few resources the vampires don’t have, but only those under Damaskinos’ command enjoy these benefits. Indeed, the Bloodpack are disgusted by the ravers in the club since they’re not “Pure Bloods” and Priest would have happily killrf everyone there to weed out the Reapers. Indeed, one reason Blade’s so quick to join the Reaper hunt is to get a closer look at the high-level vampire hierarchy, quickly learning that fear of him has seen them be less open about marking their clubs and safe houses so as to avoid his attention. The juxtaposition between the elite and the lowers is best exhibited in Nomak’s grubby attire. He’s literally dressed like a vagrant, sporting haggard clothing throughout the film, in contrast to Damaskinos’ elaborate robes, the Bloodpack’s form-fitting leather, and Blade’s armoured attire. The Reapers also scurry about on all fours, often naked, appearing like goblins, shrieking and roaring and swarming their prey like wild animals. Though Nomak, as the carrier and progenitor of the virus, is the exception (essentially the reaper equivalent of a “Daywalker”), the Reapers lack the eloquence and sophistication of the vampire nation. For the most part, vampires keep their hunger in check unless angered or feeding, instead assuming a holier-than-thou allure and utilising their own language and writing. As such, even a brute like Lighthammer is disgusted by the Reapers, which are seen as base vermin, despite the creatures only existing because Damaskinos was trying to engineer Blade’s unique physiology to strengthen the vampire race even further.

Naturally, Blade II is as impressively gory as the first movie, if not more so. The Reapers attack with a ravenous fury, causing arterial blood to splatter across walls and the creatures clutch and bite at their prey with an intensity that puts vampires to shame. The Reapers themselves are horrifically ghoulish creatures; hunched, spindly, and shrieking, they sport this awesomely gruesome split jaw and a probing tongue that rivals that of a Xenomorph. Even when dead, their bodies desperately try to feed; Preist’s severed head even appears to still be alive after he’s roasted, and the creatures think nothing of disembowelling themselves to escape. Vampires are largely ineffectual against Blade, despite their superior numbers and mostly being armed; thanks to his silver-tinted weapons and superior physical skill, Blade easily turns them to flaming ash with his signature sword, boomerang-like blades, and hefty rapid-fire pistol. Blade II ups the fight sequences from the previous film, showcasing Wesley Snipes’ impressive fighting prowess against multiple foes. Though there are a few questionable instances of CGI doubles (and shades!) involved here and there, the fights all have a raw brutality and are enjoyable to watch. The vampires are constantly overwhelmed by the Reapers and backed against the wall and the Reaper physiology means Nomak offers Blade a physical challenge not readily apparent by his dishevelled appearance. While most of the Bloodpack don’t get much character development, they do at least stand out with their signature weapons. Snowman, especially, makes an impression with his effortless swordsmanship, respectful demeanour, and focused intensity. Chuba hefts a massive machine gun and Lighthammer of course has his big-ass, caveman axe/hammer. While Reinhardt favours a simple shotgun, he takes a fascination with Blade’s sword. Avoiding its booby-trapped hilt, he relishes in brandishing the weapon before the captive Whistler and even claims it for himself when he believes Blade is dead, then tries to skewer him with it when he’s revived by the bloodpool and splits his ruthless rival in two with one simply swipe.

After wiping out most of the Reapers with Scud’s ultraviolet bomb and saving Nyssa’s life, Blade’s efforts are rewarded with an inevitable betrayal. Although Blade explosively reveals that he was well aware of Scud’s true allegiance to Damaskinos, the Daywalker is stunned by taser batons and taken to Damaskinos’ secret lair/laboratory. There, Blade once again endures having his life’s blood drained by the vampires to help them engineer a sunlight-resistant variant. However, Whistler escapes and frees the weakened Blade, getting him to a bloodpool to revive and empower him, leading to him easily making short work of Reinhardt. Thanks to the Reaper pheromones sampled by Nyssa, Nomak infiltrates the stronghold, intent on avenging himself on his father. Easily slaughtering Damaskinos’ guards, ripping open his blast doors, and penetrating his inner sanctum thanks to Nyssa turning on her father, Nomak confronts his father, seemingly looking for his approval. In desperation, Damaskinos tries to welcome his wayward son back and offer him a place at his side, only for Nomak to see through the deception and rip the ghoul’s throat out. He then attacks Nyssa before battling Blade once more, proving again to be the Daywalker’s physical equal. However, when Blade stabs Nomak through the heart, forcing his blade past his armoured ribs, the cursed deviant chooses to finish himself off, exploding in a burst of blue flame. Already feeling the Reaper strain threatening to destroy her personality, Nyssa requests that Blade allow her to die with dignity, as a vampire, by the rising sun. Out of respect and a genuine affection for her, Blade stoically agrees, embracing her as she turns to cinders. The film then ends with Blade making a special trip to London to track down Rush (Santiago Segura), a cowardly vampire who earlier led him to Whistler, ending the movie on an amusing note as he had previously promised to tie up that loose end.

The Summary:
Blade was a fantastic action/horror flick back in the day; simple, grounded, gory, and gritty, it was only letdown by some dodgy CGI in the finale. Blade II takes a much more action-orientated approach, increasing the threat against Blade, the fight scenes, and the cast of characters to great effect. I loved the twist of the vampires being so threatened by the Reapers that they were forced to turn to Blade for help, and the added swerve that it was all part of an elaborate deception to get their hands on the Daywalker and synthesise his blood. The Bloodpack, though largely underdeveloped, were surprisingly memorable through their aggression towards Blade, their signature weapons, and simply by being an elite vampire team forced to fight alongside their hated enemy. Wesley Snipes was peak Blade here, impressing in his trenchcoat, armour, grim façade, and slick fighting style. He exudes a cool, convincing authority while still being snarky and witty when necessary…or descending into full-blown animal fury. I loved the humanity Blade shows in his continued shame at relying on the serum, his respect and admiration for Nyssa, and his quest to retrieve Whistler and when reunited with him. Though, as I said, I don’t think it was necessary to bring Whistler back, Kris Kristofferson steals every scene he’s in as the cantankerous old man who’s had enough of this shit, but I wonder if the film might’ve been better swerved to have brought him back as or revealed him to be a vampire, just to add to Blade’s emotional journey. Nomak was a surprisingly effective bad guy; eloquent and expressing some relatable grievances, he and his Reaper kin represent a gruesome, monstrous threat that threatens even the all-powerful vampire nation. Honestly, Blade II is my favourite of the Snipes trilogy; it just as this cool allure to it that elevates it above the first film and stands it head-and-shoulders above the third, especially as it ups the obsession action films had with leather and sunglasses and infectious beats throughout the nineties. However, my personal bias isn’t enough to give it a full five stars. Tweaking a few things (the Whistler conundrum and the Bloodpack’s characterisation, as mentioned) would’ve changed that, but that doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of the film or the fact that I regularly choose to watch it over either of the others.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Did you enjoy Blade II? Do you think it’s the best of the original three? What did you think to the Bloodpack and Blade’s rivalry with them? Were you annoyed that Whistler’s emotional death was undone? What did you think to the Reapers, and Nomak’s threat? Did you see Scud’s betrayal coming or did it take you by surprise? What Blade storylines do you enjoy? Whatever your thoughts on Blade II, feel free to share them below and go check out my other Blade content on the site.

Released: 21 August 1998
Director: Stephen Norrington
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Budget: $45 million
Stars: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, N‘Bushe Wright, Donal Logue, Kris Kristofferson, and Udo Kier

The Plot:
Blade (Snipes), a half-human, half-vampire dhampir born with all of the strengths of a vampire but none of their weaknesses (save the thirst for human blood), hunts vampires alongside his grouchy mentor and father-figure, Abraham Whistler (Kristofferson). Their mission is upended when Blade helps haematologist Doctor Karen Jenson (Wright) after she is bitten, and when sadistic upstart vampire Deacon Frost (Dorff) sets in motion a plot to usurp his elders and evoke the mythical “Blood God”.

The Background:
Eric Brooks/Blade began life as an extremely obscure, culturally problematic vampire hunter in the pages of The Tomb of Dracula, courtesy of Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, after Marvel Comics were were finally allowed to publish stories involving vampires and other supernatural creatures. Development of a Blade movie can be traced back to 1992, when New World Pictures bought the rights to the character and rapper LL Cool J was initially attached to the role. Obviously, this never came to fruition and the rights eventually ended up with New Line Cinema, where the property caught the attention of writer David S. Goyer. After battling against the studio’s wishes to make a spoof film, and change Blade’s race, Goyer won out with his gritter, bloody, realistic reimagining of the character. Goyer’s revised ideas for Blade were reflected in his guest appearances on the nineties Spider-Man animated series where he was also a dhampir and accompanied by Whistler (Malcolm McDowell/Oliver Muirhead). Although actors Denzel Washington and Laurence Fishburne were considered for the role, Goyer pushed for Snipes, who had previously been attached to star in an unproduced Black Panther movie. Norrington’s first 140-minute cut was heavily trashed by test audiences, necessitating not just heavy reshoots but also an entirely new ending, but the final movie went on to be a huge success; it grossed over $131 million at the box office and was highly praised for its slick visual style, seedy depiction of vampire society, and unapologetic violence and gore. Though there were some reservations with the disparate genres at work in the film, the results spoke for themselves; not only was the comic book Blade altered to match his live-action counterpart, but Blade spawned two sequels of varying quality and an unfortunately short-lived TV show. Blade was also one of the first movies to really kick-start the surge in popularity for superhero properties in cinema, so it was only fitting when Marvel Studios reacquired the rights to bring the character back to the big screen with a reboot.

The Review:
Before Blade, I (like many) had never heard of Marvel’s most famous vampire hunter. Hell, I wasn’t even that familiar with Wesley Snipes, having seen him in Demolition Man (Brambilla, 1993) and very little else since my action movie dance card was firmly filled up with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s body of work. Still, like The Matrix (The Wachowski Brothers, 1999) and Armageddon (Bay, 1998), Blade was a  constant presence at sleepovers and birthdays, and probably the last good vampire film I watched until 30 Days of Night (Slade, 2007)). It didn’t help that the genre became oversaturated with lame-ass, love drunk teenage vampires and Blade and Matrix rip-offs like the God-awful Underworld franchise (Various, 2003 to 2017). Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of the dark, gory, gritty, leather-and-guns aesthetic that these films popularised at the time, but crafting a good vampire film in this day and age seems like a lost art as filmmakers lean a little too heavily towards the camp and an excess of CGI. But still, Blade was (largely) immune to all of that, and barely even had the stigma of being a comic book movie (the film doesn’t even have the classic Marvel logo in the opening) since no-one really knew who he was; I’d seen him in Spider-Man and even I hardly remembered him, so in many ways this was the perfect “back door pilot” for the superhero movies we were about to see explode onto cinema screens. Unfortunately, we wouldn’t see R-rated superhero films take centre stage during this movement, but I still maintain that not every superhero property even needs to be full of gore and cuss words; but those who do deserve it, like Blade, should definitely veer more towards that and would do well to take a few notes from this classic horror/action film.

Blade is the story of…well…Blade…a stoic and highly skilled vampire hunter who was born Eric Brooks. When his mother, Vanessa (Sanaa Lathan), was bitten by a vampire (later revealed to have been the big bad, Deacon Frost) while pregnant, Eric was born a “dhampir” (though the film prefers the term “Daywalker”), a human being with all the strengths of a vampire (heightened senses, superhuman strength, agility, and durability, and skin-piercing fangs) but with none of their weaknesses to sunlight or ultraviolet radiation (which burns and eventually explodes on contact), garlic, or silver. For all his fantastic abilities, though, Blade still ages like a normal human and is still hampered by perhaps the vampire’s most crippling affliction: “The Thirst” for human blood. While other vampires freely indulge their bloodlust, luring in unsuspecting prey and literally raving at underground bloodbaths, Blade relies upon a special serum, derived by his half-crippled mentor, Whistler, to keep the Thirst at bay. Blade takes this serum at least once a day and this is the first time (and one of the rare times) that we see him in an kind of vulnerable state; strapped to a chair, grasping Whistler’s hand for support, his body is wracked by seizures as the serum courses through his veins, leaving his hunger satiated and his body trembling. Aside from this, Blade is an absolute machine when out in the field; stone-faced and exuding menace and confidence, he thinks nothing of walking into a club filled to the brim with horny, blood-hungry vampires and even little of storming a hospital or Frost’s penthouse in the pursuit of his targets. Harbouring a deep-rooted hatred towards vampires since they killed his mother and cursed him with a life of violence and pain, Blade is relentless in his quest to kill every vampire that crosses his path, disrupt and destroy their entrenched hierarchy, and track down and kill Frost, which has earned him a reputation amongst the vampire community as a feared and formidable figure, the aforementioned Daywalker, who is effectively their bogeyman. However, Blade is deeply ashamed by himself; disgusted at his inhuman thirst for blood and sickened at what Frost did to his mother, he seeks solace in the only thing he knows: killing the monsters responsible for his existence to gain just a small sliver of his humanity back with each victory.

Although Blade is somewhat cold and dismissive towards Whistler, who is a crotchety and jaded old man with a prominent limp and a tendency to smoke around flammable liquids, there’s a mutual respect and admiration between the two. When Blade was a boy, Whistler stumbled upon him on the streets and nearly killed him before realising what he was and has been teaching him everything he knows ever since. Whistler has even less love for vampires than the titular hunter; years ago, his wife and children were killed after taking in a drifter, who turned out to be a vampire, and he was forced to watch as they were tortured before his eyes. Quite how he survived this encounter isn’t elaborated, but he’s made it his mission to take them out one by one. Despite their contentious relationship, where Whistler is often admonishing Blade for his actions, there’s a father/son bond between the two; it’s obvious that they care about each other, and Whistler is clearly disturbed at the serum’s increasing ineffectiveness and concerned for Blade’s welfare out in the field. Unfortunately, age, injuries, and cancer have taken their toll on Whistler and he’s no longer able to be an active combatant, something you can tell is a source of great frustration for him. Despite this, he’s still a valuable ally and resource for Blade; his vast knowledge of vampire society and their inner workings allows Blade to pursue Deacon Frost, and Whistler furnishes Blade with all his weapons and his supped-up muscle car, and even makes a dramatic and amusing last-minute save later in the film (his “Catch you fucker’s at a bad time?!” and “Somebody get me a Goddamn wheelchair!” lines are some of the best in the film). For all his piss and vinegar, Whistler has a large heart; he truly cares for Blade and sympathises with Karen’s plight, and his whole mission is motivated by a desire to protect others from the vampire’s bloodlusts. However, while he has an indomitable fighting spirit, his best efforts to protect Karen and fend off Frost are for naught, leaving him beaten, bloodied, and bitten. Blade is left shell-shocked and refuses to finish off his father figure; it’s all he can do to clean Whistler’s wounds and, seeing his protégé’s struggle, Whistler demands that he walk away so he can finish the job himself, and Blade begrudgingly obeys, resuming his grim façade and fuelled by an even greater need to extract revenge on Frost.

When we first meet her, Karen is just an average overworked and underpaid haematologist trying to get through a nightshift while dismissing the advances of her colleague and former flame, Doctor Curtis Webb (Tim Guinee). She’s violently introduced to Blade’s gruesome world, however, when the charred corpse of Frost’s underling, Quinn (Logue), springs to life and violently attacks both her and Curtis. Although it’s admittedly a bit weird that Blade went to all the trouble of setting Quinn alight to send a message to Frost and then immediately came back to “finish [him] off”, thereby endangering innocents by letting Quinn live, it does mean that he crosses paths with the injured and infected Karen. In a rare moment of emotion, Blade sees a resemblance between Karen and his mother and chooses to take her to his lair rather than finish her off or leave her to turn. Karen thus becomes the audience surrogate; it’s through her interactions with Whistler and Blade that we learn about Blade’s origin, the rules of these vampires, and the lore behind the movie. At first, she’s naturally terrified; not only has she just been attacked by a ravenous, burned up corpse but this hulking motherfucker just threw her out a window and effectively kidnapped her, and her fear only worsens when she’s told that she has a high chance of becoming a vampire even after the treatment they give her. Determined to avoid this fate, and fascinated by their operation, Karen experiments with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), discovering that it not only has explosive results when mixed with vampire blood but could also hold the key to curing vampirism. Though this wouldn’t have any affect on Blade since he was born with his abilities, she’s confident that she can cure him with enough time but, ultimately, he requests that she synthesise a more effective serum for him. Since she was attacked, Karen becomes “marked” and thus remains at risk of vampire attacks; this comes to a head when she’s taken hostage by Frost, meaning she willingly allows Blade to drink her blood in order to restore his strength for the finale, but any romantic subplot between them is continually (and refreshingly) downplayed due to Blade’s intense focus on his never-ending mission (although the scene where he drinks her blood seems purposefully shot to evoke an intense love scene).

As different as Blade is from his comic book counterpart, Frost is equally a departure from the silver-haired, middle-aged man seen in the comics. Indeed, the movie version of Frost has more in common with David Powers (Kiefer Sutherland) from The Lost Boys (Schumacher, 1987), both aesthetically and in terms of his motivation. Frost is seen by his more composed elders as a disruptive and chaotic individual, one who regards vampires as the dominant species and humans as mere food and whosr antics draw unnecessary attention to their kind not just from Blade, the scourge of vampire society, but also from the humans they so tentatively live alongside. Frost’s mindset is an intriguing one; since he was “merely turned” into a vampire, and was thus once human, his hatred and resentment towards humanity seems to stem from an untampered, sadistic lust for power, bloodshed, and a superiority complex afforded by his superhuman abilities. Seeing the vampire high council as relics of a bygone era, Frost wants nothing more than to run free and rampant, unrestricted by antiquated rules and treaties, and has even found a way to operate in the sunlight using sun block (a ludicrous solution, but it makes for an intimidating confrontation between him and Blade and one of the first popular instances of “bullet time” in cinema). Frost is a twisted, arrogant punk who surrounds himself with a gaggle of likeminded cronies, all of whom revel in indulging their thirst for blood and anarchy, and this extends even as far as to threaten a young girl just to hold Blade at bay and to take the head of the vampire council, Gitano Dragonetti (Kier), rip his fangs out with pliers, and leave him to be annihilated by the rising sun. Despite his disrespect and frustration with the old ways, Frost devotes a great deal of his time, energy, and resources to translating the secret of the “Blood God”, La Magra, from the Book of Erebus (the “Vampire Bible”), discovering that sacrificing twelve “Pure Bloods” will summon the eldritch force and infuse him with its power. A cruel-hearted and vicious individual, Frost takes great pleasure in beating Whistler half to death and delights in torturing Blade not just with the knowledge that his mother is still alive (and a vampire now entirely loyal to Frost) but also by draining his blood to fuel his transformation into the Blood God. Imbued with a virtual immortality, Frost’s ambition more than exceeds his grasp, allowing him to effectively usurp his elders and ascend to a level of existence that threatens to spell the end of days for both humans and any vampires that don’t pledge undying fealty to him.

The Nitty-Gritty:
If there’s a downside to Blade, it’s that it suffers from the annoying trend of having its antagonists sit around in suits and in elaborate boardrooms and office buildings, lording their power and control over the city. However, this actually plays into Frost’s character; unlike the vampire high council and the likes of Gitano Dragonetti, Frost shuns the corporate ways of their society and prefers to indulge his whims, and this dispute leads to a great deal of antagonism between his upstart group and their elders. Indeed, vampire society in Blade is depicted as being firmly entrenched within what we recognise as the real world; they’ve infiltrated every level of society, from politics to law enforcement and real estate, and enjoy the wealth and privileges such influence brings, allowing them to carefully select their victims and modulate their base desires so as not to draw attention to themselves. In contrast to these Pure Bloods, Frost and his cronies are seen as petulant children; admonished for encouraging gatherings of similarly turned vampires and threatening the “treaty” they have with the human politicians (indicating an awareness of vampire society at a higher governmental level, but it’s ignored and/or tolerated to keep from sparking an all-out war that would cost humans their lives and vampires their lofty position). If you’ve ever watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 to 2003), you’ll be immediately familiar with vampire society in Blade: there’s the older Pure Bloods at the top of the food chain, those they’ve turned and inducted into their cabal (like Frost), but there are also more monstrous variants in their ranks. The morbidly obese Pearl (Eric Edwards), who’s been feeding on children while helping translate the Vampire Bible, is just one such example, but Curtis later pops up as a horrific zombie-like creature as a common by-product of being bitten. On the other side of the coin, the vampires frequently employ “Familiars”, regular humans like Krieger (Kevin Patrick Walls), a police officer who carries Frost’s tattoo and hopes to one day be turned for assisting his master.

One of the things I absolutely love about Blade is, like The Crow (Proyas, 1994) and The Matrix before it, the film has a heavy reliance upon bad-ass leather trench coats and kung-fu. Garbed head to toe in black and sporting a nifty armour vest, Blade cuts quite the intimidating figure; our introduction to him, standing bone dry amidst a literal bloodbath, couldn’t be more striking and watching him dismantle vampires left and right with ease and skill is always a joy thanks to Snipes’ slick movements and some incredibly well-shot and well-choreographed fight scenes. The action is easy to follow, even when in low or strobe lighting, and Blade oozes confidence and charisma every time he’s on screen even though the character is largely stoic and no-nonsense. Having said that, though, Blade’s grim demeanour does crack on more than one occasion; he gives himself a little fist pump after nailing Quinn to a wall, shares some banter with Whistler, expresses concern over Karen and appreciation towards his allies, but perhaps his most amusing attribute is that he often delivers cool, snappy one-liners (his outburst of “Motherfuckah, are you outta your damn mind?” when the cops shoot at him never fails to amuse and his “Some motherfuckahs are always tryin’ t’ice skate uphill” is exactly the right level of awesome and ridiculous). Blade is so proficient at killing vampires because his superhuman abilities are bolstered by some awesome weapons, courtesy of Whistler; he carries a variety of silver stakes to instantly turn vampires to charred ash, wields a modified MAC-11 for rapid fire like he’s fuckin’ Alex Murphy/RoboCop, blows vampire heads clean off with his shotgun and, of course, carries a titanium, silver-tinted sword that easily allows him to not only sever limbs and reduce even roomfuls of armed vampires to dust but also contains a security feature that means no one but him can hold it without losing a hand! Whistler even furnishes Karen with a compound of “vampire mace” to fend off any unwanted attention, and has put together quite the sexy muscle car for Blade to bomb around the city streets in.

I mentioned Buffy the Vampire Slayer earlier and the comparison is more fitting that you might think; while the vampires don’t sport monstrous make-up like in the show and appear much sexier with their glistening fangs and gothic attire, they die in very much the same way. After being stabbed or sliced with silver, or exposed to sunlight, vampires quickly and violently burn to ash and cinders, an effect that is visually interesting if a little dated. For the most part, Blade does a great job of keeping everything nice and practical; Snipes excels in his fight scenes and shoot-outs, which are all nice and varied and have a great balance of fast-paced, hard-hitting action, explosions, and blood, and the sets are equally diverse, ranging from high-tech archives, the juxtaposition between Frost’s elaborate penthouse and Blade’s rundown lair in the industrial district, and the ancient stone of the Temple of Eternal Night. On the other hand, Pearl is little more than a disgusting mass of rubbery flesh, Frost’s Mac is strangely able to render a complete 3D recreation of the temple simply from translating the Vampire Bible, and, of course, there’s the final confrontation between Blade and Frost himself. After being restored by Karen’s blood (and receiving a power boost as a result) and cutting through Frost’s underlings, and even killing his mother (ultimately an underutilised plot point, I feel, that could’ve easily been dropped), Blade battles the empowered Frost one last time. This one is actually a challenge for Blade; not only is Frost able to match him blow for blow and sword swing for sword swing, but he’s functionally immortal thanks to the Blood God. Despite Frost’s henchwoman, Mercury (Arly Jover), killing one of the twelve Pure Bloods, the ceremony goes off without a hitch, imbuing Frost with the powers of the God (although it’s possible that Mercury’s actions caused him to be more of a demigod than a literal whirlwind of blood). When Blade does cut through Frost’s abdomen for a killing blow, the upstart vampire easily reconnects himself using probably the worst CGI blood effect you’ll ever see. Luckily, these poor blood effects are fleeting and don’t overpower the finale like in the first disastrous test footage, but they do rear their ugly head when Blade bests Frost by injecting him with his entire supply of EDTA, causing him to violently explode in an ugly, bloated mess. Although Frost is dead, this was merely a battle in an ongoing and never-ending war and the film ends with Blade more willing than ever to see his cause through to the conclusion (even ending up hunting vampires in Russia) rather than accept the vague promise of a cure.

The Summary:
It’s actually a little surprising to me how well Blade holds up today; the film has a slick, science-fiction edge to it that permeated subsequent comic book movies like the X-Men films (Various, 2000 to 2020) but it had something to it, a dark, gritty edge, that even now films in the same genre tend to either downplay or ignore. Although it’s undeniably comic book-y in its premise and execution, Blade eschews many of the clichés we’ve come to see from the genre; rather than being a by-the-numbers origin story or feature form-fitting costumes, Blade is primarily a horror/action film and, in this regard, it exceeds tremendously. Full of fast, exciting fight scenes, frenetic chase sequences, and action-packed shoot-outs, Blade is even a cut above other films in the action genre and may very well be the perfect marriage of all these disparate elements. Edgy, gory, and unapologetically aimed at a more mature audience, the film takes everything that worked in The Crow and expands upon it with its gothic, gruesome premise and proceeds the “wire-fu” craze popularised by The Matrix. I’ve never been a massive fan of Wesley Snipes; he’s undeniably cool and certainly has some skills, but it’s a little difficult for me to reconcile his personal life with his movies, which haven’t always been able to compete with his peers, but Blade was a great showcase of his physical abilities and easily his most iconic character for me since it allows him to be stoic, deeply emotional, and snarky in addition to tossing fools around like they were nothing. The depiction of vampire society as being a conflict of interests between the antiquated old guard and Frost’s arrogant upstarts echoed The Lost Boys and nicely challenged the cliché of all-powerful, corporate antagonists, and was a significant influence on the genre going forward. While some of the effects haven’t aged too well and the plot point of Blade’s mother still being alive didn’t really land for me, neither of these things really detract from how enjoyable Blade is. Although I actually prefer the more violent and action-packed sequel, there’s a definite appeal to how raw and uncompromising the original is, especially in its depiction of more horrific and gory moments, and it’s a great piece of dark, gritty vampire fiction for fans of the genre.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Are you fan of Blade? What did you think to it when it first came out and how do you think it holds up today? Were you a fan of the comic book character prior to this film and, if so, what did you think to the changes made to his powers and origin? What did you think to the performances, specifically Wesley Snipes and Stephen Dorff, and were you moved by Whistler’s death? Did you enjoy the film’s gore and action sequences, and what are your thoughts on the CGI used in the finale? Which vampire movie or story is your favourite, and which of the Blade films or comics do you enjoy? Whatever your thoughts on Blade, feel free to share them below.