It's always a bit dodgy when a different director takes over a movie franchise, especially when your first installment was handled with the style and flair that Stephen Norrington provided Blade with. Thankfully for Wesley Snipes, the studio New Line hired monster man Guillermo Del Toro to helm the sequel Blade II.
Despite being set in the same universe as Norrington's original, Del Toro makes the sequel his own, not only in look and tone but in mythology too. It's certainly bigger in scale, dealing with a group of military types rather than the lone warrior of the original, making it feel like Aliens was to Alien. The cast is great, especially Ron Perlman's moody badass, Danny John-Jules, the returning Kris Kristofferson and the slinky Leonor Valrela. Luke Goss also impresses as the mutant vampire hybrid who drives the plot which, like Del Toro's Hellboy 2, is about an outcast prince returning to reclaim his empire.
Great action, great humour, great monsters all held together with the ultra-cool of Wesley Snipes at his best. It's a pity writer director had to spoil it for everybody with the follow-up, the mundane Blade Trinity.
1 comment:
Yeah, Blade 2 kicks ass! Awesome movie. I still prefer (just) Blade, but this comes pretty darn close. It's easy to forget just how frakking awesome Wesley is in this role. He commands the screen and beats all around him in to submission with his intense charisma and super slick martial arts ability. Shame Goyer dropped the ball on Blade: Trinity.
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