Blade II: O Caçador de Vampiros

I have a weak spot for comic-book action. Something about the mix between today and the supernatural has always drawn me to it. And i found the first "Blade" to be one of the more entertaining in the genre.

Blade (Wesley Snipes) has been looking for his old-time companion Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) for a long time. Whistler was taken captive by vampires and Blade has slaughtered his way through the vampire clans of several countries to find him. Now though there is another threat to the human race that also affects the vampires themselves. Soon Blade is given an offer he can't refuse, resulting in a unholy alliance between the vampires and their greatest enemy.

Guillermo del Toro is a man with what the Germans would term "fingerspitzengefühl". He's got that special feeling for what works on screen, especially when it comes to movies like this one. Blade 2 refines most of the elements seen in the first Blade movie. This is a violent and action-filled journey into a comic-book world and del Toro is not taking any prisoners. Wesley Snipes seems to enjoy himself as Blade and most of the other actors also seem to blend in nicely in the mood of the film.

There were only a few minor flaws that bothered me. Most of all the sometimes shaky CGI-work. Some of the special effects look cheap to say the least. Especially the use of digital "stand-ins" for the actors that are used in some action scenes to spice them up a bit. All in all though this is an entertaining ride in it's overblown testosterone-rich way. I rate it 6/10.

Blade and his alter ego Wesley Snipes are back yet again to battle the vampiric scourge terrifying the world of the humans. But this time he helps...that's right, you heard me...helps the vampires fight a mutant vampire that prefers feeding on vampires over humans. Well, to spin a long (actually not that long or terribly complicated) story, Blade is...Sorry I cannot say anymore or I might give away too much of the plot - and you know movies like this are plot-driven. This film is exactly what you would expect. Gobs of blood, tons(maybe even more!) of CGI's kicking heads in, bashing heads in, splitting bodies, turning into sparkling dust, and so on and so on and so on, cute one liners with Wesley twisting his neck a lot, and lots of techo-weapons designed to do everything and anything to the body. Is it a great film? Get real. Is it entertaining? Yes, somewhat of a guilty pleasure for me I must confess. Snipes never seems to take his role or what is going on too seriously with his low-key, stoic acting. Kris Kristofferson is back as Whistler. You might remember he died in the first Blade movie, but through some plot contrivance that was designed for us not to really understand - he is back and much older and somewhat wiser for wear. The rest of the cast is acceptable EXCEPT for Reedus who is annoying. Ron Pearlman seems to be having the most fun hamming it up as a villainous vampire out to get Snipes. All in all not a bad way to spend an hour or two.

I'm not sure why the overall rating of this is lower than Blade 1. I guess b/c the first one is original and perhaps many people's expectations were higher than expected. My assessment is that Blade 2 is superior to the first and an improvement in many areas.

First is the expanded story and cast, it includes a tactical unit of elite warriors. That was definitely a plus and very interesting. Next it dives much more into the vampire lore, as even Blade himself mention in the film it takes us deeper into their operation, their world. And thirdly, the mutation into the reaper strain was a plus and a logical step in the overall lore.

But what I appreciate most is how by introducing the squad, it demonstrated that yes other vampires can fight as well. That had always been an issue in the 1st movie b/c just b/c Blade is a hybrid and has all the vampire strength, why is it all the vampires were nothing more than background units that were so easily killed? This 2nd movie we finally see how formidable they can become.

Overall I'm quite pleased with this story, the action, and the overall plot. A much better improvement upon the 1st film.

8/10.

I didn't care for this one. Maybe because I heard so many people say it was better than the first that I got my expectations up too high. I didn't find the characters all that compelling or the universe all that intriguing this time around. The villain certainly wasn't as interesting as Deacon Frost. It didn't seem like Blade had any substantial subplots to keep us interested in him.

I hated that they brought back Whistler after his terrific sacrifice scene in the first film. Perhaps if the first had set up his return, but as it is it's just sloppy continuity.

The action and style of the movie are great. But they would be out-shined by Del Toro's Hellboy movies. It worked, but it wasn't as fresh as it was when the first movie came out. At the very least, the CGI looked finished this time around.

The movie is okay, but it doesn't really do much to stand out on its own. The character was already introduced, the story was nothing special, and the fights were nothing that The Matrix didn't already popularize.

It's a good sequel to the first movie, but it doesn't beat it. The story is interesting with Blade joins forces with a special elite group of vampires to fight off against a new type of creatures called Reapers. It's interesting to learn about these new type of creatures and how they function in the movie. Just like the previous movie, the movie is entertaining with its action scenes that are fun to watch the characters fighting each other and the ways Blade kills the creatures. It's also suspenseful during those scenes and has a amount of tension during it. I also like the atmosphere of the movie with its cinematography and the locations it has in it. Unfortunately, I found the movie to be pretty predictable with the reveal of the movie, and I already guessed on the outcome of it. Another flaw of the movie is that the characters lack any development to them and aren't that interesting. Just like the previous movie, the special effects range from looking good to mediocre. I like the makeup effects on the Reaper creatures that give them a unique design to them and look pretty good when their mouth open up into something horrifying. The CGI looks better compared to the first movie, but some of it does look outdated. I also like the set designed of current scenes that have good details to it.

Blade 2 is a pretty good sequel to the first movie. While the script and characters are flawed, it is still an entertaining movie to watch throughout.