Plot
Blade, is a half man, half vampire – his mother having been bitten as she was going into labour with him. Now, along with the man who saved his life – Whistler – hunts them. One night he finds a Dr who has just been bitten – Karen – and they attempt to save her with their cure. Meanwhile a rebellious vampire named Deacon Frost is looking to revive a long-lost vampire God called La Magra, and Blade along with Karen and Whistler plan to stop him.
Direction
Quite memorable direction from Stephen Norrington. It is dark, gothic and bloody – right from the opening literal bloodbath.
There is some ‘superhero’ moments with Blade (superhero landing) – and some solid direction such as ‘fast paced back ground with slow pace foreground’. Also, I think this movie might have been the inspiration for bullet time?
Cast/Characters
Wesley Snipes really made the role of Blade his own. He made some solid films in the early 90s, so this was his comeback film. He showed he was a great action star who could deliver with martial art techniques.
Stephen Dorff is solid and holds his own as the antagonist Frost; who is even antagonistic towards his own kind. There is a fairly obvious 3rd act ‘twist’ in regards to his relationship with Blade.
Donal Logue and the late Kris Kristofferson are both fun as the #2 to Frost and Blade respectively.
N’Bushe Wright is a little flat as what is essentially the ‘heroine’ role. Unusually for this era, there is little to no on-screen chemistry between her and Blade.
Screenplay/Setting/Themes
There is some fun dialogue – and some memorable quotes from some of the characters (especially Blade and Whistler). ‘Some MF always want to ice skate up a hill’ has gone down in meme history.
As it is a ‘horror’ – it is relatively violent with a few moments that are fairly graphic. While it could be considered tame by modern standards. I’m not a big horror fan and I did not really find it too bad. There is some unintentionally funny ‘violence’ when some vampires explode and the blood is ‘cartoon like’
Overall
Unfortunately, this does live in the 90s in what it delivers in action and horror. There is no real problematic elements in the film – but it does feel a little dated – and I enjoyed watching this so much more as a teenager rather than a 40+ year old man. That being said, it is still passable, and far from a failure.
3/5
Ryan's Movie Reviews 