Great Film: Blade
Close as a "Blade" or your money back. (eh, why not?)
Now here is a movie that does something that hasn't been done in a long
time. It take ten or so different elements that we're already familiar with
(Vampires, martial arts, a techno beat, top-o-the-line special effects,
etc.), and turns it into something that feels brand new. In what could have
easily been merely a combination of "Mortal Kombat" and "Buffy: The Vampire
Slayer," Wesley Snipes (no favorite of mine since and mostly because of
"Passenger 57") gives a really good turn as the half human/ half
bloodsucker. He acknowledges the internal conflict, but doesn't dwell on it
more than necessary. He makes Blade as deep a character as Michael Keaton
made Batman.
I'll say that the only part of the movie that got me a little miffed was the
always present horror movie cliche of that one person that the hero happens
to know who happens to know exactly how to stop the evil guy. On the other
hand, you sort of have to have that in a movie like this, so it's easily
excusable.
Well, Snipes is good. And Steven Dorff, hyped in the previews, makes a more
than bad enough bad guy to Snipes' hero. He's got class, presence, and
enough control in his little pinky to teach Al Pacino how to tone it down a
bit. Who would ever think that a comic book movie would be a launching pad
for an actor? I sincerely hope this is. And whoa! where the heck did Kris
Kristofferson get acting talent? Don't get me wrong, but the prolific actor
hasn't done anything memorable since "Millennium," and how many of us watched
that just 'cause of the cool video box? Well, here he is, folks, in a very
Obi-wanish turn, as Blade's mentor and father figure. And good job,
too.
The quality of the acting is matched by the quality of the choreography and
special effects. Accompanied by a pulsing techno beat, the fight scenes
brings back and quickly banish memories of Mortal Kombat. Hey! It had a
script, too! I was wondering what had happened to all the good writers out
there.
The two major indications to me that I saw a quality flick were these; I had
no feeling of remorse about paying full price to get in, a la any Schumacher
"Batman," "The Avengers," "MK: Annihilation," "Godzilla," or "Armageddon."
(wow, how many of those came out this year? Ugh) Also, I look forward to
the inevitable sequel, as per the film's ending. Let's just hope they do as
good a job with it as with the first one.
Cast
- Vampire Elder Dragonetti played by Udo Kier
- Vanessa Brooks played by Sanaa Lathan
- Deacon Frost played by Stephen Dorff
- Blade played by Wesley Snipes
- Abraham Whistler played by Kris Kristofferson
- Dr. Karen Jenson played by N'bushe Wright
- Quinn played by Donal Logue
