| Overall Grade: |
A- |
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| Story: |
B+ |
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| Acting: |
B+ |
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| Direction: |
A- |
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| Visuals: |
A- |
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Take a Bite Out of Crime
by Yahoo! Movies User (movies profile)
Mar 13, 2007
7
of
8 people found this review helpful
In a world where humans and vampires co-exist, humans come out on the short end. Vampires use them as a food source and little else. The vampires are rich and powerful and perfectly happy to leave a wake of corpses in their aftermath. Enter Blade, a half human/ half vampire who's only mission in life is destroying the blood suckers.
Premise: There is much shaking going on in the vampire ranks and the culprit is one Deacon Frost, a young vampire with dreams of immortality. Frost hopes to resurrect a vampire god and the only person who can stop him is Blade, a vampire hunter who is half vampire himself. In a twist of fate, it is only Blade's blood that can resurrect the vampire god and only he who can defeat it.
What was good: This movie is bloody, but not particularly violent, which works here. The vampires aren't portrayed as mindless killers, it's the exact opposite. Frost is intelligent and more than a match for Blade and he isn't a monster, he's more of an ambitious up and comer type, yet completely ruthless. The story moves swiftly and hardly gives a pause for breath, which is probably partially in an attempt to gloss over some of the technicalities of vampire mythology that aren't addressed.
Snipes plays Blade convincingly. He's sympathetic and tortured to a degree, but he also has a good heart and sense of humor. Dorff is a perfect Frost, even if the character differs entirely from the comic incarnation. Frost is attractive and repulsive at the same time. He's dangerous, but still very beautiful. He's intelligent and very nearly gets away with bringing about a human apocalypse.
The coloring of this movie is black and red. Blood is used like paint, and while disgusting, it still looks good. The fight sequences are top of the line and played with Blade obviously having a good time in his element.
What didn't work: I mentioned earlier that vampire mythology is glossed over in favor of action. This works fairly well unless the viewer really starts to think about how confusing the movie portrays what vampires can and can't do. At one point we're led to believe that they can't stand any UV rays at all, yet shortly thereafter they're walking around outside in only sunscreen. There is also the problem of some people simply being eaten and not turned into vampires while others are. We are apparently led to assume that vampires can pick and choose who they turn yet that doesn't always hold true. These are just technicalities that provide some pot holes in the narrative road.
One other problem the movie had is that it very nearly bogged down in an elaborate vampire ritual that was just confusing. Thankfully, that wasn't the emphasis of the moment, so the movie didn't derail.
Conclusion: Blade is a slickly packaged vampire tale that doesn't need a lot of exposition to explain itself. It blends action, horror and a little humor to make one of the most convincing vampire tales in a long time. |
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