Fangs for a great film (Blade (DVD))

Member Name: SWSt

Product:	Blade (DVD)
Date:	16/05/08 (100 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Something a bit different, highly stylish with a quirky sense of fun

Disadvantages: Quite violent, plot doesn't make a heap of sense

It's difficult to believe that The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (or the Film of Extraordinary Badness, as I prefer to call it) and Blade were both directed by the same man - Stephen Norrington. Sure, they may be superficially similar - both focus on lesser known comic book characters, both have slightly darker heroes. In practice, though, they are worlds apart. There is one key difference: Blade is actually good.

Much of the credit for this goes to Wesley Snipes as the titular half-human, half vampire. He brings a real sense of menace and danger to the role. He's totally convincing in the fight sequences, yet shows surprising deftness in the acting stakes, in a role which requires quite a lot of effort to make the seemingly selfish, uncaring Blade a likeable hero. Snipes is ably supported by old-timer Kris Kristofferson as sidekick/father figure Whistler. Although Kristofferson's screen time is limited, he nevertheless brings a certain gruff humanity to the film, which makes him easy to like.

The weak note, cast-wise, is Stephen Dorff's Deacon Frost - a vampire with ambitions to rule the vampire and human worlds. Dorff plays Frost as a kind of junkie vampire - someone who needs the rush of power to make him feel alive. You can see what he is trying to do: he tries to make Frost icily cold and scary, but somehow, it just doesn't quite work. Dorff plays him as so laid back, that it's impossible to be convinced by his ambitions, and he's about as menacing as a piece of slightly damp tissue. In the "scary" stakes, Snipes definitely steals the show!

Visually, the film is spectacular, although not necessarily in terms of the special effects, which, whilst solid enough have dated a little. The look and feel, though, is superb. Tonally very dark, it is filled with shadows, darkness and muted colours. This perfectly suits the subject matter of the film and really helps to create a solid, believable world. Norrington should also be given credit for his directing of this film. The use of time lapse photography in several scenes and the washed out images help to create an "other worldly" feel to the film which sets it apart from other comic book adaptations.

The fight sequences, too, are pretty spectacular. Like the special effects, they have dated a little and, certainly they have been surpassed by the likes of The Matrix. Nevertheless, the wirework is convincing enough, the fights are fast, furious and exciting. Blade has a brilliant array of weapons which despatch the bad guys in a variety of interesting ways. My personal favourite is his sword which has one or two surprises up its sleeve and which makes the skeletons dissolve in flame, but the garlic tipped bullets are pretty good too!

Despite the overall dark tone, the film still manages to inject small moments of humour to help lighten the mood a little. Again, Snipes shows some deft touches at times, although the main "comedy" element comes from a number of repeated jokes (such as one of Frost's right hand men who keeps literally losing his right hand to Blade's blade!) The humour is never over the top, but it does help give Blade a nice, slightly quirky feel to it.

In terms of the bad points, you could argue that it's a little slow to get going. If you only sat down and watched the first 10 minutes to see what it was like, you might not get any further. Stick with it, though, and it will reward you with a film that's simply fun to watch.

Plot-wise, too, it will annoy some people, as it doesn't make a whole heap of sense if you try and follow it properly. Again, this is probably the result of trying to think to hard about it. Just accept that Deacon Frost is trying to take over the world, and Blade is trying to stop him. The film is really not much more demanding than that!

Some people will also abhor the casual violence which is perpetrated throughout the film. There's no doubt that it's difficult to defend Blade against accusations that it glamorises violence. The whole point of the film - from the costumes, the weapon, the stylised violence - is to make everything look "cool". This is something which could be levelled against a lot of films, though, so it's probably unfair to single Blade out for special treatment. In any case, the violence is very "comic-book" in style. You could also argue this isn't "real" violence, as it's against vampires, (although there are numerous acts of violence against committed against human characters too.) The violence isn't particularly graphic or bloody, it's the casual way that rough justice is meted out that may prove difficult for some to stomach. Again, I suppose, if you're the type of person who doesn't like violent action films, then you probably won't be watching Blade in the first place; if it doesn't bother you, then there's certainly nothing here that will cause you any problems.

On one level, Blade is a silly little film. It's got a silly plot, unlikely action sequences and generally sketchily defined characters played by actors not particularly renowned for their heavyweight acting skills. On the other hand, it's an entertaining little film: a darker alternative to some of the lighter, frothier superhero films and a welcome antidote to the predictable nature of most of the staples of the genre.

All in all, Blade is a comic book adaptation which offers something a little different for you to sink your teeth into.

Basic Information
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Blade
1998
Director: Stephen Norrington
Running time: approx. 120 minutes
Certificate: 18

© Copyright SWSt 2008

Summary: A film with real bite