We all remember Blade the original move. Wesley Snipes as the leather laden,sunglass wearing ass-kicking vampire who battled with evil members of his ownbreed in a techno music filled comic book caper. Blade II brings back Snipesin his role as the Marvel Comics half-human, half-vampire penned the ‘#145;daywalker’#146; (for his immunity from sunlight), who has all the strengths ofvampires but none of their weaknesses, spare of course, their craving for blood.
The movie also marks the return of Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), a man presumedto be dead in the first film, and a close friend of Snipes’#146; character.Whistler himself lost his family to vampires, and is portrayed as a scientificgenius that took in Blade when he was a kid, acting as a sort of father figureto the vigilante vampire. Whistler and Blade dedicated themselves to makingwar on vampires as was explained in the first film.
The first film saw this duo taking on Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff), a youngvampire that was intent on megalomaniacal schemes. Blade II takes a differentturn of events.
The current vampire overlord, Damaskinos (played by Thomas Kretschmann), hasasked once enemy Blade, to join forces with him to combat the Reapers, a superiorrace of vampires intent on destroying vampires and humans alike. Unlike normalvampires, this new breed has somewhat of a shield from silver bullets and garlic,offering our hero quite the dilemma.
Often times we find that a sequel does not live up to the grandeur or successof the first film. Although it definitely helps to have seen the first Blademovie in order to get an understanding of the tight bond between Whistler andBlade, and the battle the ‘#145;day walker’#146; wages against evil vampires,it can be safe to say that this film is definitely more enjoyable than the firstinstallment. It is somewhat free of the lingering sadism and goth atmospherethat plagued the first Blade and threatened to overwhelm Snipes’#146; iconicpresence.
In this movie we find a Blade character that has matured in the four yearssince we first met him. He has accepted his cursed fate and the solitude thatresults from it. From the outset he accepts that the mutual attraction betweenhim and Damaskinos’#146; gorgeous daughter Nyssa (Leonor Varela) cannot go anywhere,(although the crowd feels other wise for Varela’#146;s sultry character). Fansof Varela should be sure to check her out on the April 2002 issue of Maxim magazine.
Guillermo del Toro, who takes over the directing torch from Blade I directorStephen Norrington, directs Blade II. This turns out to be a beneficial exchangeas Del Toro (‘igrave;The Devil’iacute;s Backbone’icirc;) who brings to the film’#146;snonstop action and a clever manipulation of moods. This time, the film is setin Prague rather than Russia, and the ancient city and its buildings providean invaluable shadowy atmosphere key to successful vampire films.
This is where Blade has located his elaborate laboratory, managed by newlyacquired sidekick, Scud (Norman Reedus), a technological genius and obnoxiousslacker who immediately clashes with Whistler in an obvious battle of the generations.Whistler is rescued by Blade from the clutches of the vampires who had ostensiblykilled him at the end of the first film, explaining his return in the secondinstallment.
In going after the Reapers, Blade and Whistler will have the services of theBloodpack, an elite unit of vampires which had been trained for the sole purposeof killing Blade himself. Not surprisingly, relations between Blade and Bloodpackleader Reinhardt (Ron Perlman) are edgy at best.
Like the original film, Blade II offers the same action packed bullet whizzingaction of the first movie, surpassing it even in most areas. It is a sequelthat should definitely be checked out for those looking for some comic booktype vampire butt kicking.
Snipes does a good job of portraying the vampire-human hybrid, showing hishumanlike emotions while at the same time displaying his killer instinct, instilledas a result of his ‘#145;vampirish’#146; side. The film merits 3 stars out of4 from me.
