Blade 2 (2002)

Starring: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson
Director: Guillermo del Toro

Rating: R

Studio: New Line Cinema

Review Posted: 4.11.01

Spoilers: Minor

Reviewed by Sara Michelle Fetters

"Popcorn Munching, Guilty Pleasure Delight"

It has been four years since the black leather-clad Marvel comic superhero Blade (Wesley Snipes) cut a bloody swath across the silver screen. In that time, few things have changed for the sword-wielding vampire stalker. He still carries automatic weapons filled with silver bullets tipped with garlic, he grins with sadistic glee when he has an enemy cornered and he still needs to inject himself with a special serum to ward off a growing hunger for blood.

Yet, four years have changed Blade. He now seems content with his half and half existence; not quite human, not quite vampire; and seems to know from the start that a quasi-romance with full-vampire Nyssa (Leonor Varela) can never bare any fruit. He also doesn’t seem quite the hard case he was four years prior, a sympathetic or amused smile crossing his face from time to time.

Or it could just be a look a bemusement as Blade ponders the fact that he has now teamed up with the very enemy he has spent his life hunting: Vampires. See, they’re no longer tops in the food chain. A dangerous, violent breed of vampire called “Reapers” reek havoc amongst the clans, feeding off both human and vampire blood. Worse yet, one bite from these savage fiends infects the recipient like a virus, turning them into a ferocious, single-minded killing machine.

As far as plots go, that is all there is for Blade II. Where 1998’s original film had to deal with the origin of the silver-sworded hero, it also mixed in a convoluted plot that initially intrigued before petering out in nonsensical CGI martial arts mayhem. That’s far from the case this time. Plot is secondary to the violence and visual panache, and for once that is all to the good.

With a better director in Guillermo del Toro – the stylish handler of the Mexican fright-mares Cronos and The Devil’s Backbone – and a stronger, more assured (and sexier) central performance from Wesley Snipes, Blade II proved to be an unmitigated delight in the guilty pleasure gallery. Its action sequences are inspired, it moves along at a brisk pace, the darkly lit streets of Prague are menacing and the central villain “Reapers” are truly terrifying.

Don’t get me wrong – the film isn’t art. Not by a long shot. But it does know how to entertain. In an era when so many bloated Hollywood blockbusters and sequels have forgotten that very concept, Blade II is refreshing. Just pass around the popcorn, sip on a Coke and enjoy.

Rating: 2.5 out of 4

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