"Blade"

Wesley Snipes
Stephen Dorff
Kris Kristofferson
N’Bushe Wright
Donal Logue
Udo Kier
Traci Lords
Arly Jover
Kevin Patrick Walls
Tim Guinee
Sanaa Lathan
Eric Edwards

R           120min           1998


“Blade” is a marvel comic’s superhero. While still in his mother’s belly a vampire attacks her and he is given all the strength and abilities of vampires without any of their weakness. With the help of a mentor named Whistler (Kristofferson), Blade fights the vampire nation where ever they maybe.

Having never read the comic I think this is a cool entry into the “Blade” world. It’s an amazing action film but it doesn’t stand up with the time. It was one of the more grittier comic book movies made at the time.

“Blade” was really a full out showcase of Wesley Snipes skills as a fighter. I would have to say it was one of the highlights of his career. It really showed that comic book characters, other than Superman and Batman, could make money and be appealing to the modern audience. It started the modern comic book craze in Hollywood.

At the time in its own right it had some of the best action sequences. They were stylized violence of high caliber that was exciting to watch. They were kinetic and felt fluid until the Wachowski Brothers changed the game.

The special effects were cheesy looking then and nine years haven’t helped. Now that you look back at it, there are obvious errors in judgment and it was a little rushed. Two sequences that come to mind it when Deacon Frost throws the little girl it obvious and when Blade enter the building in the final showdown, when they explode where is the blood that should have landed on him. If he was going to get sprayed then it wasn’t any reason for him to react.

“Blade” was the first of the new comic book wave that has taken hold of Hollywood. It was the first time that comic book not featuring Superman or Batman, made money. It showed that the audience didn’t even need to been acquainted with the character to enjoy the movie. If it was told with a realistic point of view, filmgoers could get behind a story.

This was the film that got Wesley Snipes out of the B-Movie hell that his career had fallen into and is now back in. It had some of the best action sequences for the pre-Matrix era, but that also makes the movie date itself. It facilitated the Hollywood comic book craze.

The DVD is full of special features, some exclusive to the PC DVD-ROM. “Blade” features a commentary track with stars, Wesley Snipes and Stephen Dorff, writer, David S. Goyer, and producers and an isolated music track with composer Mark Islam. It contains 4 featurettes and other things that are exclusive to the PC.

I give it 3/5 Gs.