When Evil Strikes, One Man, Still Has The Edge (Blade 2 (DVD))

Member Name: Andy.mack

Product:	Blade 2 (DVD)
Date:	26/10/09 (32 review reads)
Rating:

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

Disadvantages: Isn't quite up to the standard of Blade

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.

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 success of the first Blade movie. While sequels throw up the inevitable worries after the first film in a series does particularly well, Blade 2 allays these worries within about 10 minutes of the opening credits

This time round they seem to have opted for a slightly different approach to the second film. The storyline has quite a few complex moments and rather than just be another story with Snipes character killing vampires they add a nice little twist with the addition of the Reapers. I felt that Goyer seemed to try and improve the plot side of the Blade movies. There are still the decent Martial Arts scenes and fast paced action sequences that made the first film such a success and the mixture of the extended plot and action worked particularly well.

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 these comic book conversions. He makes an excellent job of the special effects and the Reapers look amazing. His direction seems quite smooth and he manages to portray the story very well. 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 quite as good as the first Blade movie.. The characterisation is much better and unlike the first film there are a lot more main characters, which adds a bit of depth to the plot. While the plot works rather well the film just doesn't quite have the same feel as the first movie and that is a little bit of a disappointment.

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. On paper the role of Nomak seemed to quite complex and you would expect 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 an 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 not hesitate to recommend, although would suggest watching Blade before moving on to this second instalment.

Summary: The Second film in the Blade trilogy