Netflix Review: Blade 2

Genre: Action | Thriller
Directed by: Guillermo Del Toro
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman, Norman Reedus, Luke Goss
Written by: David S. Goyer

I decided to make it a Netflix night recently thinking I could put on a movie in bed not realizing that Blade 2 would refuse to let me sleep. This movie is one that a lot of fans associate with introducing the world to Guillermo Del Toro which is awesome and this movie has aged surprisingly well considering all of the super hero films and shows that I’ve consumed in the last decade. The effects seemed mostly practical and I never had a moment of disbelief or disconnect from what I was watching.

The Good

This movie is darker than I remember. I mean, a LOT of this movie takes place at night, in alleys, tunnels and pretty much any dimly lit environment you can think of. The plot is actually pretty disposable as far as the antagonist and the threat that needed to be overcome while the more interesting focus of the film was the father-son relationship shared by Blade and Whistler. This was an element that I didn’t remember from my initial viewing but one that I fully appreciated. The relationship hinges on Blade’s childhood and how Whistler, inadvertently, became a surrogate father for the hero. The film opens with Blade continuing a long search to rescue Whistler after events in the first film. Kris Kristofferson plays Whistler and while this isn’t a academy award level performance by any stretch he manages to re-affirm the relationship with a surprisingly stiff Wesley Snipes.

This relationship is key to the development of Blade as he actually shows some growth between films and has become a different man in this movie. He’s still the same unstoppable bad-ass out to destroy the vampire underworld but we see Blade begin to build and strengthen relationships in this movie which is appreciated. To help round out the folks surrounding Blade is a pretty nice talented cast that will make some folks do a double take at the names they don’t remember being a part of this movie. Blade 2 boasts a pretty cool cast with plenty of names that have grown to household status. Joining Snipes are Ron Perlman, Norman Reedus, Luke Goss, Donnie Yen and more!

The Bad

The plot and premise is pretty nonsensical but it sets up a decent scenario to see blade do his thing. The vampire’s have a new threat that scares them as much as Blade and rather than taking on the nemesis directly themselves they seek out Blade’s help to take down the new threat. That alone is idiocy as Blade shouldn’t have any motivation to help the creatures he’s dedicated his life to destroying but lo and behold he’s down for the cause and even gets a little chummy with some of his new recruits.

Wesley snipes seems a bit slower and out of shape than I remember. For some reason I thought I remembered Snipes in top form in this movie but I may have gotten some things confused with the first movie. The fights in this film were noticeably staged and choreographed which can be forgivable at times but it reminded me of that moment in the Mortal Kombat when Johnny Cage looks at his stuntman and blurts “This is the part where you fall down.”. It was like a movie within a movie bad and that’s simply unacceptable in a world where I can readily turn on Man of Tai Chi on Amazon Prime and see it done the right way.

OVERALL

The main problem I had with this movie is that it seemed to be more style than substance. Don’t get me wrong, the style was really fun to watch but overall my standards in this type of film have grown. It’s a good throwback but this movie wouldn’t survive in today’s comic book movie landscape.

 

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