Ka Leo.Org

By Christopher Johns
Ka Leo Staff Writer

April 12, 2002

A sequel can be a precarious issue. It has to live up to the spirit of the first film while introducing new aspects to the characters and story. More often than not, a sequel fails, but sometimes it is as good, if not better, than the original. For the most part, "Blade II," directed by Mexican director Guillermo del Toro ("Mimic"), falls into the latter category. It has much to offer in new areas that, at times, surpasses the original.

However, the film does fall short in the opening sequence then again, it is hard to beat the blood bath rave of the first film.

In "Blade II," the opening credits are consumed by a borderline ridiculous voice-over narration by Blade (Wesley Snipes) regarding his lost companion Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) who has been abducted by vampires and moved from one location to the next. This opening scene plays on a loophole of the first film, namely that we never actually see Whistler die. In "Blade" we see the title character walk away from a vampire-bitten Whistler, followed by a gunshot.

In this film Blade teams up with his enemies to track an even greater enemy: a new breed of vampire that feeds off of vampires, then infects the vampires with a drug-like addiction for vampire blood. Blade's arch-nemesis is Nomak (Luke Gross), the carrier of the parasite that infects his vampire victims.

Aided by a team of vampire hunters who were previously trained to hunt him, Blade must track down Nomak and eliminate him; for after Nomak finishes off the vampires, humans would be the next logical victims.

Anyone familiar with the fast editing of the first film will recognize the same camera logic present in this one. Fight scenes and chase scenes are rapidly cut to add chaos and intensity to them.

One chase scene occurs in a beautifully decorated labyrinthine vampire rave club.
Like any film, the viewer needs to have a sufficient suspension of disbelief. The presence of UV grenades, where the light can- move around corners illuminating any crevice around (light only moves in a straight line) is one example.

The subplot surrounding Whistler's return keeps the audience guessing until the end. Is Whistler cured of his vampirism or is he secretly still a vampire with vampire sympathies?

The casting of Ron Perlman as Reinhardt, Blade's rival on the team, is brilliant. As with his previous films, "The City of Lost Children," "Alien Resurrection," and "The Name of the Rose," Perlman has proven himself to be an actor who can dominate any given scene.

Also part of Blade's team of vampire allies is Nyssa (Leonor Valera), the former head of the team and daughter of ancient vampire Damaskinos (Thomas Kretschmann, the German submarine captain in "U-571"). Nyssa is the potential romantic interest for Blade, yet del Toro preferred to leave that possible subplot as an inference.

The rest of the vampire team is ethnically diverse with each member offering their own element to the team. There is Lighthammer (Daz Crawford) with Samoan facial tattooing and a spike-ended warhammer, Snowman (Donnie Yen), an Asian vampire skilled in martial arts, and Chupa (Matt Schulze) as a hotheaded vampire who has it in for Blade and Whistler even at the expense of the mission.

The remaining members of the team, Asad (Danny John-Jules) and Red Eye (Rey-Phillip Santos) play relatively minor roles the types assigned to increase the body count.

Unlike the original, "Blade II" downplays the gore factor; but where the gore factor is absent the gross-out factor is prevalent. Instead of a slew of bloody dismemberments, we are treated to graphic feedings: The new breed of vampires split their soft jaw bones in half to reveal a feeding appendage reminiscent of the face-hugger from the Alien series.

There are plenty of bloody images, like the vampire fetishes in the underground vampire rave club or the nod to Japanimation vampire film "Vampire Hunter" when Blade cuts a vampire in two at the waist.

The plot is interesting and the camera work is fun, if standard fare these days. Portions of film are shot like an MTV video with other scenes being given a beautiful work over in the set decoration.

The characters were at times one-sided but for the most part they were interesting. The idea of incorporating Blade as the head of a vampire team trained to hunt and kill him adds suspense and flavor to the film.

It was a pleasant surprise to see that del Toro chose not to pursue the romantic aspect of the film, instead representing it as a developing respect between Nyssa and Blade.

This film places Blade at the nexus of most of the tension: Blade vs. Nomak, Blade vs. Reinhardt, Blade vs. Damaskinos. Yet some of the interesting subplots revolve around other conflicts: Nomak vs. Damaskinos, Nyssa vs. Damaskinos, Whistler vs. Scud (Norman Reedus, Blade's new assistant) and standard vampires vs. new-breed vampires.

The film moves at a rapid pace with intriguing subplots and masterfully executed and choreographed fight scenes. This film is definitely a worthy contribution as the sequel to the first "Blade" film.