The film may be preposterous, but it doesn’t slow down long enough to be outright boring.
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Where would we be without Bram Stoker´s 1897 novel, "Dracula"? We´d be without a slew of vampire movies, that´s where, most of which have been bloody awful. "Blade" is a cut above the norm by being more lively and more high-tech than most of the others, although it makes no more sense than ever. There are no reservations about New Line´s DVD edition, however; it is magnificent, and its bonus items can make analyzing the film even more engrossing than watching the film itself. Either way, the disc is good lightweight entertainment.
The main character is straight from the pages of Marvel comics. Wesley Snipes plays Blade, part vampire himself and all superhero, a stalker of vampires everywhere. He and his partner, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), hunt down vampires from city to city. As Whistler says, "They´re hard to kill. They tend to regenerate." You see, vampires are everywhere amongst us, just as "Men in Black" informed us that space aliens are everywhere. In the film, Blade is trying to find and destroy his archenemy, Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff), a vampire who´s so bad he´s got the whole Vampire High Council--a kind of vampire Mafia--afraid of him.
Seems Frost is trying to decode an ancient vampire text that will enable him to resurrect a vampire god, or become the god himself, or something. Details are a little vague in these stories. Anyway, he needs Blade´s blood to make the thing happen because Blade is only a partial vampire, a "Daywalker," and somehow that makes a difference. Oh, and it can only be carried out in an authentic, ages-old vampire temple, which just happens to be buried right under the city, but nobody ever noticed it before. You following this?
Early on, Blade saves the life of a beautiful doctor named Karen (N´Bushe Wright), who soon becomes Blade´s right-hand man; er, woman. Whatever. She gets bitten by a vampire, but an injection of garlic juice temporarily saves her. And did I tell you about garlic mace? Great for squirting in a vampire´s face and making his head explode.
OK, reason and logic are not the film´s strong points. Action and adventure are. Snipes looks terrific as the hero, Blade. He´s tough, smart, muscular, athletic, yet vulnerable. He´s also serious and single-minded to a fault. He has no sense of humor and never once makes a pass at Ms. Wright. It is indeed a cold heart that cannot be attracted to Ms. Wright. Maybe she´s just Ms. Wrong for him.
But a little humor or romance might have injected Blade with more personality. Not that Wright´s character is very well developed, either. She more or less plays Dr. Watson to Blade´s Sherlock Holmes. Then there is the villain, Frost, yet another heavy performed so straight the fun is sucked out of him. Dorff is neither pure evil nor comic parody; instead, he looks and sounds like every other scruffy bad guy in films. Why doesn´t the all-powerful ruling Vampire Council just kill him? No, no, no; never just kill him! One longs for an over-the-top Gary Oldman in the part. It is only Kristofferson as the grizzled old Whistler who has any individuality, and he doesn´t get all that much screen time.
In the movie´s defense, though, there are some beautiful production designs--like the inside of the ancient vampire temple--and some good action--like an exciting fight sequence in a subway and a gripping climatic scene with fine special effects at the end. Director Stephen Norrington throws in every gimmick he can find to keep up the film´s vitality, including fast motion photography, slow motion, computer graphics, and voice overs. The film may be preposterous, but it doesn´t slow down long enough to be outright boring.
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