Blade II
Starring Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Leonor Varela

Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Rated R - for strong violence, language, sexual content and some drug use

*** out of 4 Stars

Released March 22, 2002

Running time: 108 minutes

***

by Kevin Lang

By all indications early in the film, "Blade 2," directed by Guillermo del Toro and starring Wesley Snipes, was on its way to possibly surpassing its predecessor. The action scenes were just as exciting. The weapons were just as unique, and the characters were developing in a similar manner as if they were emerging before us from the turning pages of a dark comic book. At several moments I even felt that same sort of strange laugh coming on as I had during the first film. You know what I'm talking about. It happens when Blade beats the bad guys in such a cool way that you can't help but get that breathtaking "now that was sweet" feeling inside. You even begin to think that you could do the same if you had to. Bloodsucking flesh gnawing vampires would be no match for you, not with your fighting skills.

"Blade 2" started strong, but somewhere near the halfway point of the film my interest in the story grew weaker, in correlation with a plot whose strength began to fade. It wasn't that the film took a nosedive. It just went from being a very good action film with a good story to a very good action film with an average story.

The story involved our hero, Blade, battling a new strain of vampires known as the Reapers, who were immune to some of the normal vampire weaknesses. To battle the Reapers, Blade joined forces with the race of vampire that was his enemy in the first film. Two of his sidekicks included actors Ron Perlman, "Happy, Texas" (1999) and Leonor Varela, best known for the TV movie "Cleopatra" (1999). Together, along with his old friend Whistler, Kris Kristofferson, they fought the Reaper strain. Several humorous moments arose as Blade and his vampire friends tried to get along without killing one another, literally of course.

Up until around the midway point the story had been developing quite nicely, but it was near that point that the story, which had been causing my interest in the characters to grow, seemed to die off a bit. Characters began to act against their grain of development. Blade's sidekicks, who appeared to be excellent fighters at the beginning, seemed to act as if they forgot how to fight later on, submitting themselves to the enemy without much of a battle. This may have been done to give Blade more of the spotlight, but those other characters would have been just as enjoyable to watch. Also, suspicion purposely drawn to a certain character at the beginning of the film conveniently vanished later on. And finally, what seemed to be a developing romance between Blade and Nyssa (Leonor Varela) failed to become nearly as strong as it could have been. Rather than being an engagingly enjoyable film that drew me into its characters as the first film did, "Blade 2" was still a fun film but its characters were not nearly as memorable.

This was especially true of the villain, Nomak (Luke Goss), whose character wasn't developed enough to significantly stand apart from the rest of the Reaper vampires. Adding to the central antagonists lack of development was also the fact that the physical appearances of all of the Reapers were very similar. These points contrast Stephen Dorff's Deacon Frost from "Blade" (1998). Frost was a unique character, both by way of his physical appearance and his personality. He was a villain whom we both liked and loathed, which made him the ideal antagonist.

Although obvious criticisms exist, "Blade 2" was still an enjoyable film to watch. The fight scenes were superbly choreographed and were at times astonishing. I should also warn the squeamish that there were certain scenes, one in particular involving a dissection, which could make even someone with the toughest skin squirm. After all, it was a vampire movie. Although the story didn't leave a significant impression, there was enough stirring action to still make "Blade 2" an enjoyable time at the movies. Besides, who knows when you might have to do battle with grotesque bloodsucking vampires? It's good to be prepared.