Surprisingly Good Comic Book Adaptation

Rating: 7/10 (20 May 2000)

Having seen this only after watching 'The Matrix' I can tell where the latter film got all of it's ideas. Subway and Lobby scenes, graphic martial arts, thumping music. All present and correct, and though 'The Matrix' does all of these things better and is in general a far superior film you have to give it up to 'Blade' for thinking of them first. I admit though that like many people I watched 'Blade' without the faintest idea about the comic book it was based upon and I still don't know anything about it. Like many big screen versions of such comics it fails in that it tries to deliver to both fans and newbies alike. Frankly I got the idea but I got the definite feeling that there was a lot more back story and a whole new universe which wasn't particularly well expressed throughout the film. Also, the similarities to the TV series 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' were quite obvious, though who came up with it first is debatable. Basically I liked it though Snipes brooding, invincible character made the film a little too clearcut. The man seemed to have no weaknesses, either emotional or physical, and so it was clear to me who would 'out'. Still, it's unlikely that 'The Matrix' would have turned out to be such a brilliant film had it not been for this merely average actioner so hats off to it for that.