Blade-The Mother of the Franchise
The original Blade movie launched what was to become something of a mini-empire spawning two sequels and recently a television series. Blade follows the exploits of a half-human, half-vampire who basically stalks and kills vampires. Blade’s unique abilities, which include immunity to garlic and the ability to walk in the day, stems from the fact that his mother was bitten while pregnant. Bummer, for sure.
Whether you are a horror film buff or not, this is an original twist on the otherwise sucked dry and ancient vampire lore–sorry I couldn’t really be expected to resist. Blade, played to campy perfection by Wesley Snipes, is a very focused, serious vampire slaying machine. During this introduction to the Blade world, we are introduced to Blade's mentor, Kris Kristofferson who helps him concoct interesting new ways to wipe out the vampires. We also learn that the vampire world is rich, powerful and organized into different houses.
It is pretty simple what makes Blade such an effective film in the genre. It infuses the tried old vampire genre with much needed new blood, sorry once more. Blade has lots of cool weapons, some nice post-kill puns and quips, has cool costumes, great visual effects, a decent script and strong acting from the key players. Another strength of the film is that while Blade has a gruff persona you respect the fact that he wants to drink blood, he has those urges but resists and finds ways not to be a predator upon the human race.
As I do in many of my reviews, especially with big-budget action or sci-fi films I point to budget and Blade did a good job with the $40-$50 million at its disposal. Good set design, special and visual effects, well choreographed fight sequences, costuming and props at a “modest” budget should be taken into consideration when viewing the film.
Sure there is a lot of flaws that could be pointed out, but here’s the deal, when the Hollywood gods allow something relatively original through their filtering system I try to be extra forgiving, as we all should. Say what you want about Blade, at least in 1998, we hadn’t heard the story a million times over and that goes a long way. If you haven’t already seen the original check it out, it’s a good time.
Story A
Acting B+
Visuals B+
Originality/Innovation A
Enjoyability Grade A-
Home Theater/HD Factor B
Overall Grade A-
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