BLADE (1998)

Movie Review

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Blade holds Racquel (Traci Lords) at shotgunpoint.

Director: Stephen Norrington
Starring:
Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Stephen Dorff
Run time: 120 min.

Plot synopsis: Wesley Snipes stars as the tortured soul Blade--half man, half immortal. Blade sharpens his lethal vampire slaying skills under the guidance of Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), his mentor, guardian and fellow hunter of the night. When the blood-thirsty Immortals' lord, Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff), declares war on the human race, Blade is humanity's last hope for survival.

REVIEW

I only just recently watched this movie for the first time even though it was released five years ago. It was one of those movies that whenever I was at the video rental store, I would look at it and think, "vampires and swords? Give me a break." Being the traditionalist that I am, it seemed like an odd mix to me. I would consider it because I really like vampire movies, but I always ended up getting something else instead.

Well, I finally got an opportunity to watch Blade without even renting it because I was out at my parents and noticed that my old man had it in his DVD collection. My old man is definitely not a vampire movie buff (his movie collection consists largely of Arnold Schwarzenegger's greatest hits) so it got me curious.

Although I have given this movie three wooden stakes (see below), I do have some issues with it. For the most part I like the movie, but my overall opinion is a 50/50 mix of the good, the bad and the ugly (yeah, I know this doesn't add up).

The Good

Wesley Snipes is the vampire slayer known as Blade.

I guess what ultimately wins me over with this movie is Wesley Snipes portrayal of Blade, and the incredible job he does tearing through the hordes of undead with a combination of kung fu karate, swordsmanship, gunfire and brute force. The fighting scenes are terrific. Blade predates The Matrix by one year, and although Blade doesn't utilize the "Bullet Time" effect that was invented for The Matrix and has become widely utilized ever since, Blade does have that same non-stop, heart pounding, in your face action that was perfected in The Matrix. What do you figure the chances are that the Wachowski brothers watched Blade?

Outside of the fighting scenes, there are still a number of good elements. The general plotline that presents vampirism as a kind of blood disease, and Blade as a half human half vampire mutant is an interesting twist. Dr. Karen Jenson (N'Bushe Wright) races to find a potential cure as Blade investigates the evil doings of Deacon Frost who is using high tech computers as he seeks to crack the dark secrets of the vampire bible so that he can resurrect the blood god and bring the pathetic human race to its knees. "La Magra." Humans, after all, are just food for vampires, right? This all establishes an exciting and original story that makes Blade well worth watching for any fan of vampire movies, traditionalist or not. There are enough story elements that maintain traditional vampire lore to satisfy me.

The Bad

There aren't many technical problems, although near the beginning you have the riot police firing on Blade with machine guns as he swoops down from the hospital building to a lower lying roof with Dr. Jenson in his arms. Now, as much as the cops might want to blast into oblivion this preternatural freak that basically just flew several hundred feet through the air, would they actually endanger Dr. Jenson who they are supposedly trying to rescue? Doesn't make sense. Fortunately, I didn't notice too many snafus like this, so technical problems really don't take away from the movie.

The Ugly

You may not have a problem with this sort of thing. In fact, I can only assume that a large portion of those who like vampire stories find the unnatural concept of a "vampire nation" to make complete sense.

So here's my problem. I have a dilemma with the concept of a large community of vampires co-existing with the human race. First of all, to enjoy a good horror story such as Bram Stoker's Dracula you have to be able to embrace what is referred to as the "willing suspension of disbelief." And this is where I run into a serious problem with the vampire nation as a whole. For example, in Blade you have so many vampires that they have an undead world council and a happening nightlife where fellow vamps get together at the local nightclub and gyrate to techno music, complete with a vampire DJ to host the blood bath activities. So answer me this. Just how do you have so many vampires hanging out in the community and not have an astronomical problem with the mortality rate? Think about it. You have literally thousands of vampires having to feed every night. Doesn't anyone stop to consider the vast number of dead bodies that would pile up from this? Even in a city like New York, where you have 7 million people, several thousand people disappearing and/or ending up dead every night is going to make national headlines for sure. This is an epidemic that would make AIDS seem like the common cold.

So there you have it. I just can't will my willing suspension of disbelief to accommodate such a huge number of undead citizens. But does this ruin the movie for me? No. Overall the good plot line, great direction on a modest budget, quality acting and awesome fight scenes manage to outweigh my traditionalist prejudices.

Three wooden stakes for Blade, the former comic book superhero.

Wave goodbye to Frost!

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BLADE (1998)

Movie Review

Director: Stephen Norrington Starring: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Stephen Dorff Run time: 120 min.

Director: Stephen Norrington
Starring:
Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Stephen Dorff
Run time: 120 min.