WARNING: This Review May Contain Spoilers
So a little thing about me, I love vampire films. It started with Lost Boys and once I was old enough to watch Blade – I couldn’t resist. Here’s the thing, and it’s a question I ask myself every time I sit down and watch this franchise, was Blade: Trinity a step too far?
Blade: The Character
Fun fact for those of you who didn’t know, Blade is actually a Marvel Comics character. Surprising right? OK, Wesley Snipes doesn’t look the way the character did when he first appeared in The Tomb of Dracula #10 but then it isn’t the seventies any more. I don’t think audiences would have taken him so seriously if he had rocked up at Frost’s club in the first film in brown trousers and a green jacket. However, it does seem by 1999 the comic version of Blade had begun to look a lot more like Snipes.
Half man, half vampire – Blade is a man fuelled by revenge and continuously battling with his own blood lust. What I love about his character though is that he isn’t the perfect hero – he has weakness and he gets caught because of it. There’s also a darkness to him, which I guess makes him more of an anti-hero and truthfully that has always been the style of hero I prefer. However, he never misses the opportunity for a superhero landing.
The Company We Keep
For a lone-wolf style character, Blade isn’t lacking in friends. Part of me expected them to have been created solely for the films but I was happy to find out that I was wrong. Firstly, and most importantly, there’s Whistler. The man who made Blade the vampire hunter that he is and became the father that he never had (not that Blade will admit to that of course). He’s also that one character that helps audiences see that deep down Blade isn’t just this cold-hearted character.
Those that he teams up with the second film I wouldn’t class as his friends so I’ll move straight on to Blade: Trinity. Enter the Nightstalkers, a human taskforce intent on the destruction of the vampire. The flaw to these guys is that they turn what had been a reasonably serious franchise into a bit of a comedy but I guess every film at some point needs a little light relief. Now, I’m not saying there is no humour in the second film, I mean who wouldn’t laugh at this line:
Blade: You’re human
Kounen: Barely, I’m a lawyer.
Evolution of the Vampire
In the first film we see what people traditionally understand to be a vampire, can’t walk in the sunlight (unless they’ve got their sun lotion on), and killed by garlic and silver. However by the second film, Blade is up against a whole new breed of enemy, the reapers. They are led by Nomak who has a hate for vampires and doesn’t exactly use fangs to drain blood from his victims. I’m not exactly quite sure how to explain what projects from Nomak’s mouth if I’m honest. It is because of him that Blade has to team up with the Bloodpack, led by Princess Nyssa. I’m not sure if it’s obvious from their name but they’re all vampires (now you see why I didn’t refer to them as friends previously).
In the third film, the vampires are back to what you would expect, except for their dogs but I’ll leave that to your imagination. However, this is where Blade must face possibly the king of all vampires – Dracula.
Always has to be a Whistler
This is actually the only thing I well and truly dislike about Blade: Trinity, the introduction of Abigail Whistler. I don’t know if its Jessica Biel’s acting or the way the character is written, there’s just something I don’t like about her. I don’t think it helps that she was created specifically for the film – unlike her father, Abraham Whistler, and her compatriot in the Nightstalkers, Hannibal King. Obviously, with the unfortunate self-sacrifice of Father Whistler – the director may have felt that we couldn’t have Blade without a Whistler. Maybe don’t kill him off? Just a thought. To make it worse, they reuse a scene from the first film of Whistler telling Karen, our damsel in distress from the first film, about his family but change it so that it comes across as him telling Abigail.
I also find that, even though Blade is the titular character, once we meet Abigail the film practically becomes about her. Especially as the weapon to take down Dracula is conveniently designed to be able to work with a bow and arrow – her weapon of choice.
Digital Technology
OK, I get that Blade was made in 1998 but seriously, some of the visual effects – especially the death of Dragonetti – are pretty bad. By the second film, even though it’s only been 4 years, you can see that development in technology just in the first fight sequence. Having said that, when he takes on Nyssa in their lab, it is pretty obvious that parts of the fight aren’t actually real. Thankfully, things had moved on by 2004 and the CGI is much better than in the previous two films, although you can tell the UV Arch isn’t actually real.
The Fight Scenes
Here’s another fun fact for you. How many of you knew that Wesley Snipes is actually a trained martial artist? No, well now you know why at least in the first two films the fight scenes are so good. Especially in the second film as Luke Goss, who plays Nomak, is also a trained martial artist. OK, there’s clearly wires involved for certain moves but no stunt doubles required. The one thing I will say however is that they might have wanted to get an actual stunt double that can fight for Princess Nyssa because her CGI double is not great.
Now here’s my issue with the third and final film. There aren’t as many of these fight scenes where Wesley really gets to show off his talent. Yes, there are fights but they are shorter than in the previous films and we seem to cut away as soon as it looks like it’s about to get good. In addition to this, it seems that certain fights had to be sped up. I guess some people did attend their training classes.
In Conclusion
I never used to enjoy the first part of the franchise, mainly because I used to feel that it falls foul of what I like to call “first film syndrome”. You know, the whole back story taking over the majority of the storyline feeling, but having watched it again it isn’t as bad as I remember. However, the second film will always remain my favourite out of the three. The third I feel there isn’t as much of the Blade we have grown to enjoy as there should be. All in all, these films do one thing extremely important for me that a lot of films based on books and comic have fallen foul of since, they don’t exclude those that haven’t read them before. You don’t need to be a purist or comic book fan to enjoy them for what they are.
So a little thing about me, I love vampire films. It started with Lost Boys and once I was old enough to watch Blade – I couldn’t resist. Here’s the thing, and it’s a question I ask myself every time I sit down and watch this franchise, was Blade: Trinity a step too far?
Blade: The Character
Fun fact for those of you who didn’t know, Blade is actually a Marvel Comics character. Surprising right? OK, Wesley Snipes doesn’t look the way the character did when he first appeared in The Tomb of Dracula #10 but then it isn’t the seventies any more. I don’t think audiences would have taken him so seriously if he had rocked up at Frost’s club in the first film in brown trousers and a green jacket. However, it does seem by 1999 the comic version of Blade had begun to look a lot more like Snipes.
Half man, half vampire – Blade is a man fuelled by revenge and continuously battling with his own blood lust. What I love about his character though is that he isn’t the perfect hero – he has weakness and he gets caught because of it. There’s also a darkness to him, which I guess makes him more of an anti-hero and truthfully that has always been the style of hero I prefer. However, he never misses the opportunity for a superhero landing.
The Company We Keep
For a lone-wolf style character, Blade isn’t lacking in friends. Part of me expected them to have been created solely for the films but I was happy to find out that I was wrong. Firstly, and most importantly, there’s Whistler. The man who made Blade the vampire hunter that he is and became the father that he never had (not that Blade will admit to that of course). He’s also that one character that helps audiences see that deep down Blade isn’t just this cold-hearted character.
Those that he teams up with the second film I wouldn’t class as his friends so I’ll move straight on to Blade: Trinity. Enter the Nightstalkers, a human taskforce intent on the destruction of the vampire. The flaw to these guys is that they turn what had been a reasonably serious franchise into a bit of a comedy but I guess every film at some point needs a little light relief. Now, I’m not saying there is no humour in the second film, I mean who wouldn’t laugh at this line:
Blade: You’re human
Kounen: Barely, I’m a lawyer.
Evolution of the Vampire
In the first film we see what people traditionally understand to be a vampire, can’t walk in the sunlight (unless they’ve got their sun lotion on), and killed by garlic and silver. However by the second film, Blade is up against a whole new breed of enemy, the reapers. They are led by Nomak who has a hate for vampires and doesn’t exactly use fangs to drain blood from his victims. I’m not exactly quite sure how to explain what projects from Nomak’s mouth if I’m honest. It is because of him that Blade has to team up with the Bloodpack, led by Princess Nyssa. I’m not sure if it’s obvious from their name but they’re all vampires (now you see why I didn’t refer to them as friends previously).
In the third film, the vampires are back to what you would expect, except for their dogs but I’ll leave that to your imagination. However, this is where Blade must face possibly the king of all vampires – Dracula.
Always has to be a Whistler
This is actually the only thing I well and truly dislike about Blade: Trinity, the introduction of Abigail Whistler. I don’t know if its Jessica Biel’s acting or the way the character is written, there’s just something I don’t like about her. I don’t think it helps that she was created specifically for the film – unlike her father, Abraham Whistler, and her compatriot in the Nightstalkers, Hannibal King. Obviously, with the unfortunate self-sacrifice of Father Whistler – the director may have felt that we couldn’t have Blade without a Whistler. Maybe don’t kill him off? Just a thought. To make it worse, they reuse a scene from the first film of Whistler telling Karen, our damsel in distress from the first film, about his family but change it so that it comes across as him telling Abigail.
I also find that, even though Blade is the titular character, once we meet Abigail the film practically becomes about her. Especially as the weapon to take down Dracula is conveniently designed to be able to work with a bow and arrow – her weapon of choice.
Digital Technology
OK, I get that Blade was made in 1998 but seriously, some of the visual effects – especially the death of Dragonetti – are pretty bad. By the second film, even though it’s only been 4 years, you can see that development in technology just in the first fight sequence. Having said that, when he takes on Nyssa in their lab, it is pretty obvious that parts of the fight aren’t actually real. Thankfully, things had moved on by 2004 and the CGI is much better than in the previous two films, although you can tell the UV Arch isn’t actually real.
The Fight Scenes
Here’s another fun fact for you. How many of you knew that Wesley Snipes is actually a trained martial artist? No, well now you know why at least in the first two films the fight scenes are so good. Especially in the second film as Luke Goss, who plays Nomak, is also a trained martial artist. OK, there’s clearly wires involved for certain moves but no stunt doubles required. The one thing I will say however is that they might have wanted to get an actual stunt double that can fight for Princess Nyssa because her CGI double is not great.
Now here’s my issue with the third and final film. There aren’t as many of these fight scenes where Wesley really gets to show off his talent. Yes, there are fights but they are shorter than in the previous films and we seem to cut away as soon as it looks like it’s about to get good. In addition to this, it seems that certain fights had to be sped up. I guess some people did attend their training classes.
In Conclusion
I never used to enjoy the first part of the franchise, mainly because I used to feel that it falls foul of what I like to call “first film syndrome”. You know, the whole back story taking over the majority of the storyline feeling, but having watched it again it isn’t as bad as I remember. However, the second film will always remain my favourite out of the three. The third I feel there isn’t as much of the Blade we have grown to enjoy as there should be. All in all, these films do one thing extremely important for me that a lot of films based on books and comic have fallen foul of since, they don’t exclude those that haven’t read them before. You don’t need to be a purist or comic book fan to enjoy them for what they are.
