When Evil Strikes, One Man, Still Has The Edge (Blade II (DVD))

Member Name: Andy.mack

Product:	Blade II (DVD)
Date:	26/01/06 (93 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: More superb acting, more of a plot and decent direction

Disadvantages: Plot goes from one extreme to the other with a little too much detailing

After the first Blade film made a name for the Series in 1997 it seemed inevitable that Wesley Snipes would be back as the half man/half Vampire for a sequel before too long. The return of Blade came about in 2002 when Snipes linked up with Guillermo Del Toro to carry on the series and bring to life another of Goyer’s scripts after the successful effort of the first Blade movie. As with all sequels the question of whether it would do the series justice and whether it was actually any good were always likely to be raised. The answers come quite quickly and the short answer is that it is certainly a decent film.

When a new threat appears Blade (Wesley Snipes) has to do something he certainly isn’t comfortable with. A new form of enemy that feasts on both Humans and Vampires has become a threat and Blade must join forces with the Vampires he has hunted for years to avoid the world being overrun by these Reaper Vampires. Blade isn’t exactly comfortable with this alliance but if it avoids the Reapers taking over it will make his task of destroying the Vampire race a little easier. It also means he can keep an eye on the Vampires and learn a bit more about how they tick.

The film seems to try and improve where the first one left off. Unlike the predecessor there seems to be a lot more thought gone into the storyline of this film. While there is a little less action in this one there is more of a plot and Goyer seems to have written quite a respectable story. The film isn’t as good as the first but it sticks to the Action film route and with a little Martial Arts thrown in still stays true to the concept from the original. I’ve never been familiar with the comic version of Blade but the Screen adaptation seems to work where a number of similar concepts have failed miserably.

With the addition of Del Toro as director it sees him bring a few of the traits he brought to both Mimic and Hell Boy. I do admire Del Toro’s directing ability and he shows on this movie why he is one of the favourites with studio’s for conversions from other formats. He makes an excellent job of the special effects and the Reapers look amazing. The split in their jaw looks good and had the possibility of looking quite tacky but Del Toro pulls it off with a bit of style. His direction seems quite smooth and he makes a decent effort at the script. I was quite impressed with the cinematography and thought that the film shows what Del Toro can actually do.

Despite the improvements to the script this isn’t as good as the first Blade movie. The plot is more involved but it seems that the plot has gone a little too far from the lack of plot of the first to a little too involved. The characterisation is much better and unlike the first film there are a lot more main characters, which does add a bit of depth to the plot. Unlike the previous film however I thought the additional plot seemed to detract from the overall action elements of the film and in comparison this was slightly weaker but it does have a lot more advantages than disadvantages.

The acting like the first film was possibly the best aspect of the movie. Of course there is Snipes back in the lead role as Blade and again he really makes the part his own and his sheer screen presence makes for compelling viewing on its own. I thought the biggest surprise was the performance of former Bros member Luke Goss. He stars as the main carrier of the Reaper strain and his performance is certainly impressive. The role of Nomak seemed to be one that would require an experienced actor but Luke Goss looks like a natural as he goes around eating everything in sight.

I was actually impressed by everyone in this film. For instance the performance of Ron Perlman, who goes on to star as Hell Boy, is fantastic and as the muscles of the operation really adds another dimension to the plot. I was also again impressed by Kris Kristofferson who follows up his role as Whistler with ease, picking up exactly where he left off in the first one. The whole cast is quite impressive and I think that’s the reason why the Blade trilogy stands out against the more mediocre comic book conversions like The Hulk.

Overall this film carries on the Blade trilogy’s claim to be one of the best Comic book conversion series. There are only a few that come close and the real plus point of these films is that they don’t spend and hour and a bit of the film giving a detailed back story, instead they blend it into the plot making for a much more interesting film. If you enjoyed the first Blade you’re bound to like this. It is quite a gory film and that probably justifies its 18 rating but it is very well done and doesn’t seem to be gore for gores sake. It’s a film I would again not hesitate to recommend, although would suggest watching Blade before moving on to this second instalment.

Amazon: £19.99
Amazon Marketplace: £1.50

Summary: The second Blade film continues the Trilogy and does it well.