Trailer:
“You obviously have no idea who you are f**king with!”
Though the first film received mixed reviews, Blade #1 ended up becoming the first real financial success for a Marvel film and was well received within the fan base. This opened some new doors of possibility for the comic company as their first ever sequel went into production. Blade 2 was one of the early superhero films that followed the trend of taking what worked in the original and expanding on it.
The film opens on a narration by Blade who explains the past events in the previous movie. Most important of which was the death of his friend Whistler who apparently didn’t die but instead was kidnapped by the vampire nation after being turned into one (which kind of diminishes that great scene between them in the original). The narration opening feels a little hammy and lacks the grip that the club scene from the first film had.
From there the film follows Blades attempt to find his mentor. This causes a run in with the ruling vampire family. They form a pact with Blade so that he can help them hunt an all new threat, a group of mutant vampire—zombies called reapers. Reapers feed on humans and vampires, but are like crack addicts and constantly need to feed. Their prey then joins their ranks, causing them to multiply rapidly. To make things even worse, they are immune to most normal vampire weaknesses.
From there Blade joins the team of elite vampire warriors called the Bloodpack, who were originally formed to kill Blade. Their alliance is uneasy and Blade’s relationship to one of the members, Nyssa, causes him to begin to question if hunting vampires is really right. She serves as a good contrasting romantic interest in comparison to Karen. He also has a high tension relationship with Reinhardt (Ron Pearlman). Old habits die-hard for this one and he seems to plot Blades death at every turn, despite having one of the vampire hunter’s bombs attached to the back of his head.
Blade’s own team consists of himself, Whistler, and a newcomer named Skud (Norman Reedus) who was brought in to replace him. Skud is pretty much an ignorant and annoying young man that you can’t help but root for his death at times. The main problem with him is that after Whistler's return, he doesn’t have much to do besides operating as a plot device. Whistler’s return is welcome and Kris Kristofferson gives another good performance but makes the character a little more engaging this time around. Whistler is a recently cured vampire but his loyalty is constantly questioned throughout the entirety of the film.
Unfortunately the main villain doesn’t seem that evil when he is only killing Vampires and drug dealers. It makes you just say, “wait isn’t that pretty much what Blade is doing?” Stopping Nomak becomes more about preventing what COULD happen and not so much what IS happening. Yet Nomak still provides an intimidating on screen presence that give the fight scenes a lot of tension. Also if Normak doesn’t appeal to you, there is a surplus of other villains to take a liking to.
The movie utilizes a lot more shoddy CGI characters in the fights than the original did and most of the time it makes them looks like weird Gumby cartoons. It is when the film relies on practical effects and choreographed fight scenes that it is at it’s best. And fear not because there is PLENTY to be found in the movie.
Then there is the question of if the movie is better than the first. Here is the area where fans seem torn. Many like this more, and many find it a let down to the original. The film has a bit more focus in terms of the plot, and the script is a little tighter. Where the first was all over the place in terms of whether to be character driven or about hunting, this one focuses on the later for better or worse. Personally I find it an improvement though many would argue otherwise. The hunting takes the spotlight in a fun fast paced plot.
I won’t pretend I’m not biased, or at least a little partial to the work of Guirrmo Del Torro (Pans Laberinth). Though he seemed to set aside character development and emotional complexity, he crafts a very well developed hunting scenes that had me on the edge of my seat for the vast majority of the film. Also the stakes of the film felt high for both Blade and humanity without the hammyness of a “vampire resurrected god” being involved. The thrill of the movie comes from the none stop full throttle suspense and action that never seems to stop and take a breather. It also is a little less predictable than it’s predecessor with more twists.
Overall Blade 2 can be considered a step up in terms of the action scenes but takes a step back with the characters. But the film is so damn fun when relying on the hunt that it makes up for everything that it may be missing emotionally by pumping it full of adrenaline and blood.
FINAL RATING: 7/10- (70%)
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