'Can't see in the dark, knucklehead!' (Blade II (DVD))

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	Blade II (DVD)
Date:	25/09/08 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent action and special effects

Disadvantages: Dark and moody all the way through

Following the successful adaptation of comic book vampire hunter Blade in 1998, directed by Stephen Norrington, dark and moody director Guillermo De Toro takes over for the sequel, cunningly entitled Blade II. Wesley Snipes reprises his role as the title character, the half-vampire half-human Blade, with his sworn dedication to rid the world of vampires. With a bigger budget and a lot more promise, big expectations were of this film, and while it was cordially received by critics, I thought it was very well made and was also full of one-liners.

When I first saw the film, it was with a group of friends, and we delighted in films of this nature - a good action film with a couple of quick witted one-liners such as the title of my review. What Del Toro does is take the very moody Blade and make him even moodier by teaming him up with vampires to hunt a new breed of vampire known as the Reapers, who feed on vampires in order to survive. Blade (Snipes) has his old friend and protector Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) for company once more, and the team of vampires includes the Hollywood hardhead Ron Perlman as Reinhardt. There is a great piece of acting from Luke Goss, member of former boyband Bros (remember them?!!). Goss plays Nomak, the leader of the Reapers and the main target of the film.

Del Toro doesn't really need much of a plot to work with here. What little plot there is does seem to make way for the main attention of the film, which is Blade's uneasy alliance to the vampire council and the emergence of the next generation in vampires (the Reapers). While I was disappointed at this, I did find the plot to be a little weak and the ending equally so, but only in terms of plot.

The fight choreography is one of the main reasons I like this film. Snipes has always had a good hand in the action scenes in the majority of his films, and he does like to do his own stunts where possible. His martial arts training helps in this, and I was very impressed by the acrobatics and fighting in this film from all involved. The mood of the film is incredibly dark. The main source of the film being vampires, it is no surprise that a lot takes place either at night or in the dark, a slight contrast to the first film where there were a lot of inside shots but done with artificial light to give us sight of what was going on but justifying the vampires' existence in light. This, coupled with some very good special effects work, makes it all the more enjoyable.

This doesn't make the film any worse, and those who are aware of Del Toro's work will have expected it. The film is a bit moody, but the one-liners do lighten the mood, and there are some moments of suspense and fighting breaking up the potential monotony of the dark.

Overall, I give this film a thumbs up. I am sure it will not appeal to a lot of people, but those who like a good fight and some clever scripting over a good plot will undoubtedly warm to this. The DVD is available from amaon.co.uk for £4.98 at the moment. It's well worth the money.

Summary: Very good film, dark and moody, but fighting and special effects are excellent