Blade II
From AwardAnnals
| Film: | Blade II |
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| Director: | Guillermo del Toro |
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| Genres: | |
| Distributor: | New Line Home Video |
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Reviews
Amazon.com
Aptly described by critic Roger Ebert as “a vomitorium of viscera,” Blade II takes the express route to sequel success. So if you enjoyed Blade, you’ll probably drool over this monster mash, which is anything but boring. Set (and filmed) in Prague, the plot finds a new crop of “Reaper” vampires threatening to implement a viral breeding program, and they’re nearly impervious to attacks by Blade (Wesley Snipes), his now-revived mentor Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), and a small army of “normal” vampires who routinely combust in a constant conflagration of spectacular special effects. It’s up to Blade to conquer the über-vamps, and both Snipes and director Guillermo del Toro (Mimic) serve up a nonstop smorgasbord of intensely choreographed action, creepy makeup, and graphic ultraviolence. It’s sadistic, juvenile, numbing, and—for those who dig this kind of thing—undeniably impressive. With the ever-imposing Ron Perlman as a vampire villain. —Jeff Shannon
Barnes and Noble
A ruthless new breed of vampires threatens both the dead and the undead in Blade II, the high-speed sequel to 1998’s adaptation of the action-horror comic book. Wesley Snipes returns as the titular half-vampire, a “daywalker” sworn to eliminate all bloodsuckers in the coolest possible way. After reviving his captured mentor, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), Blade finds himself enlisted by his own enemies to help defeat the “Reapers,” an evolved form of vampire that poses a serious threat to regular vamps and, quite possibly, humans. Reluctant yet cool, Blade teams with those he cannot trust, a crackerjack squad of vamps (which includes a menacing Ron Perlman) that prove to be as adversarial as the Reapers. The gore is intense, the action is fast-paced, and Snipes keeps up every step of the way, once again flying through the role of vampire hunter—often literally. With so many faces returning from the first movie, the freshest aspect here is Mexican genre whiz Guillermo Del Toro (Mimic) in the director’s chair. While maintaining the kinetic style of the original, Del Toro milks the film’s Prague locale for some atmosphere and style, an approach that enhances the film’s flair and makes it much more fun than your average horror sequel. Tony Nigro
Related works
The final battle begins and the trinity comes to an end! Blade is back and his enemies have grown in number since they resurrected their king, Dracula. Together with a new group of vampire hunters, called the Nightstalkers, led by Whistler’s strong but beautiful daughter Abigail and the wise-cracking Hannibal, they must finally defeat the vampires or face inevitable extinction.
The recipe for Blade is quite simple; you take one part Batman, one part horror flick, and two parts kung fu and frost it all over with some truly campy acting. What do you get? An action flick that will reaffirm your belief that the superhero action genre did not die in the fluorescent hands of Joel Schumacher. Blade is the story of a ruthless and supreme vampire slayer (Wesley Snipes) who makes other contemporary slayers (Buffy et al.) look like amateurs. Armed with a samurai sword made of silver and guns that shoot silver bullets,…
