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Director: Guillermo del Toro
Producers: Michael De Luca, Peter Frankfort, Wesley Snipes
Writer: David S. Goyer
Director of Photography: Gabriel Beristain
Cast: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Pearlman, Leonor Varela
| BLADE
2 Rating: Director: Guillermo del Toro Producers: Michael De Luca, Peter Frankfort, Wesley Snipes Writer: David S. Goyer Director of Photography: Gabriel Beristain Cast: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Pearlman, Leonor Varela |
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Review by: Ian
Golding
3/22/02
If you like movies about people getting kicked in the face, boy have I got one for you.
Blade 2 is the sequel to the 1998 film about Blade, (Wesley Snipes) a half man, half vampire, (Manpire?) who hunts and kills vampires with the help of his friend and assistant, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson). In this installment, Blade must team up with the vampires to fight a common enemy; the Reapers, a group of mutant vampires who aren't affected by silver or garlic, but can be killed by sunlight. The Reapers are hunting and killing vamps, and when they bite one, that vampire becomes a Reaper as well. Blade leads a team of vampires, including Reinhardt (Ron Pearlman) and Nyssa (Leonor Varela), the daughter of the vampire "king," or leader or something. Blade soon discovers that the vampires are connected to the Reapers in a way he couldn't have imagined.
Blade 2 is one hundred percent standard action fare. You've seen this movie a thousand times already, and if you liked it then, you'll like it now. Everyone knows karate, and every scene is either a karate fight or a set-up to one. The action scenes are shot with an obligatory under-cranked camera, so everything looks all sped up. People do flips, jump off of walls -- the whole nine. The editing is (of course) rapid fire and completely random. Never once does director del Toro allow a shot to evolve into something interesting. Speaking of del Toro's directorial style, I'm not sure if anyone told him that he was making a film, not an episode of an hour-long TV show. The film opens with an action scene teaser, and then jumps to a credit sequence right out of TV's Alias. In voice-over, Blade recounts the story from the first film, preparing us for another episode in his further adventures. The story gets compelling about every fifteen minutes, perfectly suited for commercial breaks.
One sequence in particular is horribly overdone. Blade and his team split up to search a vampire hangout/dance club, (complete with required techno beat) and the action cuts between the characters at incredibly regular intervals. We see Blade make his way down a hallway, then cut to Reinhardt making his way down a different hallway, then cut to Nyssa walking down yet another hallway, then cut to Blade spotting something and stopping to look around, sweeping his flashlight around the room, then cut to Reinhardt hearing something, then Nyssa, and so on. It's simply pathetic; we're seeing the same scene cut up about five times, and it drags on and on, building up to exactly what we know is coming in each sequence. Del Toro doesn't give us just one predictable sequence, but cuts between four of them. There's plenty of violence and action in Blade 2, but don't expect too much in the way of characters or story. Do plan on getting a lot of MTV-style quick cutting, and dark, moody lighting. Cinematographer Gabriel Beristain must've spent half the lighting budget on blue filters for the light on his night scenes, and the other half on black light bulbs, because that seems to be his lighting scheme.
Of course, it is an action movie, and
has some pretty entertaining visuals (minus the absolutely horrible,
laughable CGI) so if you feel like turning your brain off for
a couple of hours, check it out. You don't have to be stupid
to like Blade 2, but it certainly doesn't hurt.
Crucify me in the forums.
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