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RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW(S): THE BLADE FRANCHISE (Part2)
BLADE TRINITY: AUTOPSY
BLADE: TRINITY
Release Date: December 8, 2004
Studio(s): New Line Cinema, Marvel Enterprises, Amen Ra Films, Imaginary Forces, Shawn Danielle Productions Ltd.
Distributed By: New Line Cinema
Budget: $65,000,000
Gross Revenue: $128,905,366
Produced by: Wesley Snipes, Avi Arad, Cale Boyter, and Toby Emmerich
Written by: David S. Goyer
Based on the Marvel Comics character created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan
Featuring: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ryan Reynolds, Jessica Biel, Parker Posey, Natasha Lyonne, Dominic Purcell, Callum Keith Rennie, James Remar, John Michael Higgins , Paul Michael Levesque (a.k.a. Triple H) and Eric Bogosian
Synopsis: Blade is joining forces with two vampire hunters, part of a group called the Nightstalkers, as they tackle the powerful and ruthless villain Danica Talos. After harvesting the superior blood of the ancestor of all modern vampires, Talos has resurrected the man now known as “Drake” (notice the modernization of the Dracula name) from a century-long sleep in the hopes of finally getting world control for all vampires. Blade, along with the Nightstalkers must unleash a virus that will kill all vamps— but only are given one chance to make it work.
Well, that’s the plot in a proverbial nutshell.
Actually the plotline as written here and on Wikipedia adds some semblance of dramatic narrative that is definitely not available in the finished product.
I am sad to note that neither Jessica Biel nor Ryan Reynolds brought anything of substance to this film. This is not to say that the duo didn’t try hard, in fact it appears that they are overexerting them selves in certain scenes of the movie. Viewing this movie gives one the impression that Biel took her role somewhat too seriously while Reynolds was having the time of his life playing (at that time) against type.
Jessica is just too stoic and deadpan for most of the movie. But to her credit, she plays well as a partner to the purposely “restrained” character of Blade as played by Snipes.
Ryan Reynolds essays an annoying, combative, “in-your-face” take on the character of Hannibal King.
[Note: The audience is even treated to a crotch shot (complete with pubic hair) of King’s former glyph.]
It’s like the director just told each of these two young actors to make sure they acted “tough”. There are numerous slow motion shots of Blade (Stunt Double: Clay Donahue Fontenot, but more on that later.) and posse walking “iconic ally”.
Parker Posey, an excellent actress in independent films is “after the paycheck” and clearly slumming here as the LEAD VAMP Danica Talos. She seems to be emulating, creating a female version of Stephen Dorff’s Deacon Frost character from the first film in the series. Her dry wit and forced bitchiness is like watching paint dry.
Dominic Purcell’ Drake (actually a play on Dracula) is way out of his league in this movie as the supposed “Big Bad”. His appearance and look suggests an arch stereotype of the alternative community that I am loathe to mention here as it would take away from my extensive review of this particular movie. Suffice it to say that Dracula lacks “Impact”.
Note: There is actually a scene in the movie where Biel and Reynolds conduct a briefing on Drake / Dracula using an actual copy of the “Tomb of Dracula” comic that the franchise is based on[!]
(Blade’s reaction is priceless.)
The audience is supposed to believe that Danica and her cohorts trekked all the way to the Iraqi desert to unearth their leader only to lock him away in some room until they figured out what to do with him? Drake is also a shape shifter and inexplicably murders off his underlings.
Goyer’s fun fest continues as he blatantly ignores the rules and parameters of the very universe he created. The fledgling vampire hunters in this movie are able to go mano-a-mano individually with creatures of the night even when human beings in the two previous movies couldn’t.
Note: Biel’s character actually listens to an I-pod while battling legions of the undead.
WWE “superstar” Paul Michael Levesque (a.k.a. Triple H) is literally wasted in this movie in a horribly staged brawl with Reynolds. It looks like a standard issue “match” you could see on any of WWE’s programming. Why wasn’t Levesque cast as Drake?
Also of note is how CHEAP the film looks in comparison with its predecessors. Blade’s wardrobe and equipment gets a drastic reverse make-over. Don’t really know the reason for this, but it’s is distracting in certain scenes.
BEFORE
AFTER
Remember the budget of this film is 65 million. It is actually more money that BLADE II, which appears to be made with 100 million. In that film Del Toro put all of the money on the screen.
*SPOILER ALERT!!*
WHISTLER DIES YET AGAIN!!!
BLADE III follows its predecessors with none of the style, action or narrative scope despite all three films being written by the same screen writer: DAVID S. GOYER
The first film exuded atmosphere, style and the hero’s journey to close the circle of his origin and move forward. Stephen Norrington exceeded expectations with his heightened reality take on the Daywalker establishing a cinematic credibility with the movie going audience that is worth its weight in gold.
[BLADE= 150 million worldwide]
Guillermo Del Toro’s sequel, BLADE II took the emerging franchise in a new direction retaining and enhancing the groundwork laid by Norrington with a fresh surreal take occurring almost completely in a fantasy world. This sequel was more of a comic book movie than its predecessor.
[BLADE II= $155,010,032 worldwide]
Given the success in execution and the franchise’s rising stock, it is puzzling to say the least that Goyer was given a complete green light and artistic control over what could have been the best “cash cow” for New Line Cinema since the “Nightmare on Elm Street” Franchise.
BLADE: TRINITY is surprisingly Goyer’s second film as a “director”, the first being a film entitled: “ZigZag”.
[ZigZag = $2,418] Note: I double checked this number with IMDB.com as well as Wikipedia.
It is definitely no secret that Wesley Snipes and David Goyer clashes repeatedly on the set of Trinity. Snipes felt excluded from the creative process and Goyer (from interviews) appeared to simply be trying to survive the filmmaking process. Wesley Snipes reportedly is no walk in the park when to deal with on a personal level.
If you exclude ZigZag, Goyer was basically given his first “REAL” film with BLADE: TRINITY. It has been reported that former directors Norrington and Del Toro were in contact with Goyer while the latter was in production.
That brings the question back to New Line.
What were they thinking?
Didn’t they want to make as much MONEY as humanly possible? Goyer appeared to obviously be in over his head. Snipes was complaining about the direction of the franchise and conducting a silent boycott from his trailer on most days, but it seemed that none of the producers wanted to correct the problem while the film was in production.
"You know, whether it's been as a writer, producer or director, I've done four movies with Wesley. Wesley's an amazing actor. There's drama on every f[rick]ing movie. When you're working that hard and you're working so many hours and you're up there for so long, everybody breaks down. At the end of the day it was just your average drama. At any given point in the film Jessie broke down or Ryan broke down or I did. It just happens and when it's over, it's over."
Quote- David S. Goyer
(Edited for Content)
Apparently Snipes didn’t appear to feel that it was “average drama”. He has filed a lawsuit (still pending) regarding BLADE: TRINITY
Snipes' attorney, Marc Greenberg, said the defendants have failed to pay the final $3 million of Snipes' $13 million salary for "Trinity," the third installment in the series that featured him as the lead character, Blade.
The suit also accuses the defendants of trying to capitalize on Snipes' appearance in the film to promote a potential new franchise.
"The true purpose for creating 'Blade III,' " the suit claims, "was to set the stage for a planned spin-off series of movies featuring other cast member Ryan Reynolds, who plays Hannibal King in 'Blade III,' in a new series of movies about the Nightstalkers, the vampire hunters played by Reynolds, Jessica Biel and Natasha Lyonne."
Said Greenberg, "We want to make sure that the public … understands that Mr. Snipes made his effort to keep the trilogy on track and that those efforts were not successful due to decisions made by the director and other producers."
Snipes also claims that he was denied several contractually entitled rights of approval and consultation on key elements of the film, including director and screenplay.
"The screenplay for 'Blade III' represented a significant departure from the story line of 'Blade' and 'Blade II,' resulting in reduced screen presence for plaintiff Snipes and the Blade character," the lawsuit claims. "The purpose of this reduced screen presence for plaintiff Snipes in 'Blade III' was to allow the introduction and promotion of two new characters as 'sidekicks' to the Blade character and to position those minor characters to be 'spun off' into successive motion pictures without the Blade character."
Statement from Wesley Snipes Attorney Re: New Line Lawsuit
I’ll include two more “Retorts from Goyer and one from Peter Frankfurt”
In addition to Snipes, Kris Kristofferson returns as Blade mentor Whistler. Newbie’s include Jessica Biel (7th Heaven) as Whistler's daughter, Vancouver's Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder) as a vampire hunter in cahoots with Blade, Parker Posey (Best in Show) as the head vampire and wrestler Triple H as her sidekick.
"I was really pleasantly surprised by Triple H," says Goyer. "(Others) were very keen on bringing him in but I wasn't a giant WWE fan. But he turned out to be completely professional, dedicated and humble, and very funny with great comedic timing. We ended up writing more scenes for him."
Snipes didn't surprise Goyer. He declined to detail the star's notoriously bad behavior but stories about Snipes' partying, carousing, fights, tantrums and tardiness were legendary on the set.
"I am going to try and be as diplomatic as possible," says Goyer. "There has always been drama on the Blade films and this one was no different. We prepared for drama . . . and there it was."
Will he work with Snipes again?
Long pause.
"Yeah," says a resigned-sounding Goyer.
Will there be a Blade 4?
"Wesley told me when we did the second one that he thought he only had one more in him but you never know. We'll see. I always conceived of three films and there is a definite ending to this. I don't want to cheat (by opening it up again). On the other hand if it does $150 million, then . . . we're all whores."
David Goyer Talking About Directing 'Blade 3'
[Thursday, February 12th, 2004]
Funny, Goyer sounds completely glib about the fact that personnel wise, BLADE: TRINITY appeared to be a runaway train. When asked about other aspects of shooting this film, Goyer was equally coy.
Goyer pointed out that every time he'd direct his pyrotechnic crew to build a scene one way, they'd go even bigger. According to Goyer, that's just how the pyro guys are like.
"That night, when we blew up that place that was Halloween night. First of all, after it happened, nobody could hear. Clay, who's Wesley's stunt double, from one of the concussive blasts, was knocked back about 30 feet into the air. That was the moment when I thought we were f [rick] ed. He was up about 10 feet into the air and landed on his back. That was one of those moments where the pyrotechnic guys said, 'Oh yeah, we decided to make it a little bigger.' Clay was fine, all the cameras got it, and everybody was like, 'Holy sh*t! That was big!'"
And yes, when you see Blade flying back in the air, that's not wire work. It's very real.
[Edited for Content]
Peter Frankfurt weighs in on the difficulties with BLADE: TRINITY
Wesley Snipes pulled out of all press duties for the upcoming Blade: Trinity.
Snipes reportedly signed up for another movie as soon as filming finished on the third Blade movie. "Wesley is in Bulgaria shooting a movie." Trinity producer Peter Frankfurt told Ananova. "He's done three movies in Bulgaria. Actually I haven't talked to Wesley. Wesley won't return my calls?"
"He hasn't called me to talk about it. If he was genuinely unhappy with the film we would have heard something. There's a lot going on in his life and he's got a lot of issues at hand so who knows. The guy is an awesome Blade."
"Sometimes the paths of communication between us are fantastic and sometimes they're non-existent. If Wes doesn't want to do press that's a career choice he's made."
Snipes is said to have had total control on the set, and had to green-lighted scenes in which he appeared. He is also said to have stayed in character throughout the movie.
Frankfurt adds, "Wesley has script and director approval of all the Blade movies. He had to sign off on absolutely everything we were doing."
Peter Frankfurt (excerpt pulled from online source)
[Friday, November 26th, 2004]
Frankfurt’s statement sounds at some points like a veiled threat [“If Wes doesn't want to do press that's a career choice he's made.”]. So the opposition would have you believe that Mr. Snipes was “on board” with most of the creative decisions.
Is some one pulling the wool over our collective eyes?
Apparently the folks over at JoBlo news reported an extremely different take by Snipes….
Here's the whole part about the alleged racism from JoBlo news:
Snipes, who wrote a five-page letter of complaint to New Line founder Bob Shaye after TRINITY wrapped, says in his complaint that he had misgivings about Goyer directing the film and was only apprised of that fact six weeks before production was set to begin. He goes on to allege that, despite having script approval, his complaints about the shooting script's "juvenile level of humor" and focus on supporting characters Hannibal King and Abigail Whistler were not adequately addressed.
In the complaint, Snipes blames Goyer for the film being a critical and commercial disappointment saying the director was a "disastrous choice" and that the result was a "bloody mess" (pun intended?). Snipes also claims that Goyer made racially motivated statements and refused to discipline a crew member who wore a t-shirt Snipes found racially insensitive.
He adds that a predominantly white cast and crew was hired, which led to him feeling isolated and excluded.
Well you can judge the results for yourself. If you enjoyed BLADE: TRINITY more power to you. But ask yourself this … Was Wesley being a prima donna or was there actually some conspiracy to disenfranchise him and relegate a GREAT character to OBSCURITY? Was David S. Goyer working against his own creation in favor of a watered down product he could easily
control?
Consider the director’s own words re: THE CREATIVE PROCESS
David Goyer: You’d be surprised how much was my script. Not that Ryan didn’t add a lot. I would say about 80% of that was in the script, and I was surprised that I could be funny, I’d never really tried to be funny before, but when I was writing Hannibal King he just became funny, and I started liking this back and forth between Hannibal King and Blade. And then when I cast Ryan, what would happen after that is that Ryan and I would then sometimes stay up late on the weekend and drink and embellish what was in the script, and that made it even funnier. I think the comedy was a B, and then with Ryan it became an A. Frankly we were a little inebriated at the time, but we were just, “What can we do? Oh, they’ll never let us do that.”
FURTHER:
David Goyer: There aren’t any specific plans for one per se, but we have a contingency plan, so if it’s successful and the audience wants it, there could be a Blade 4 or there could be a Nightstalkers, there could be a combination of both. We won’t do it unless the fans really want it. I do have an idea for a story, but there’s no script or anything like that. We just wanted to wait and see how people react to it.
BLADE DESERVES A BETTER ENDING TO HIS SAGA THAN TRINITY EVEN FAILS TO OFFER.
After sitting through BLADE: TRINITY, I felt as old and wizened as Kris Kristopherson’s Abraham Whistler. Like him, I just wanted it to be over.
BLADE: TRINITY
* Star out of Five
… shadowgeek10 returns to the shadows, this has been a Special for the Month of October …