One of the better modern-day vampire movies

Rating: 7/10 (9 May 2005)

We've kind of been overdosed on vampire movies in recent years, most of which being total The Lost Boys rip offs, but Blade is probably the best of the new spate of vampire films. It's about a man named Blade (Wesley Snipes) who is a vampire slayer. Ironically, Blade's mother was attacked by a vampire while pregnant with him. Seeing as he was not directly attacked, he is now a half vampire; basically he is a vampire but has blood substitute to eat, and is referred to by vampires as "the daywalker." On the baddie side is Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) who isn't happy with all the pure-blood vampires (lead by Udo Kier)ruling the vampire kind, so takes over with his own little gang and tries to resurrect something evil known as La Magra.
Fast paced and intense, it's clear to see why it has become so popular and Wesley Snipes is fantastic in the lead, plus the leather-clad look suits him. And Dorff, as his nemeses, surprised me. Despite playing a baddie that seems like yet another David-from-The-Lost-Boys rip off, he is very good at portraying that somewhat evil yet not pantomime-esquire baddie. And he clearly loves playing the role. Of the supporting cast, Udo Kier and Donal Logue are the most entertaining; Kier (once again playing a vampire) delivering the sort of subtle evil performance he has been famed for and, in some lights, does look incredibly creepy, even though he's not really portrayed as a baddie at all, and Logue is wonderfully upbeat and frantic as one of Frost's little cronies.
If the movie does have any drawbacks, at two hours, for some people it can get tedious, and the obese vampire is absolutely hideous, but the movie is so fast paced you probably won't have time to get bored, and that hideous vampire is only in it for about two minutes, plus you can't help but sympathise with it when Karen (Blade's love interest, played by N'Bushe Wright) is pretty mean to it.
Overall, it's a very watchable movie that you will most probably enjoy.