A bad case of glorifying Genocide

Rating: 3/10 (25 December 1999)

Here is a film called BLADE. The story follows as such. A woman is bitten by a vampire and is pregnant. She is rushed to hospital where her son is saved and grows up to be Blade. He is a half vampire who goes around killing all sorts of vampires and vampires lackeys, meanwhile trying to find a better serum to contain his vampiric tendencies. He has a older mentor (played by Kris Kristofferson) who makes all his weapons for him, a female sidekick who he rescued and is now confronted by an evil vampire called played by stephen dorff. Who wishes to bring about the end of the world and *spoiler* needs Blades blood to do it. I was given this film for Christmas and was willing to give it a go, as I love movies of all types and have always loved the driven hero action films. When the film opens up with a techno dance scene involving sprinklers with blood I thought I would be in for a treat. I was wrong after this scene which kicks things off really well, everyone shows their true natures. Kristofferson has forgotten how to act, and it feels like you have seen a better version of him in many other movies. Wesley Snipes doesnt get past his costume or his first scene. A one note performance all throughout the film. He isnt even cool as an action hero (Batman, Bruce Lee) and doesnt have that driven desire for revenge (Conan, Robocop, Crow) to make you want him to attack the baddies and watching the movie it is obvious that if he didnt have vampires to kill he wouldnt have anything else to do. Thats all there is to his Character. The vampires are not evil and nasty or even very stylish. They are just the chosen form for the hero to go up against. Dont get me wrong I love action movies and mindless films. But this was missing all that makes action films great. The details that good movies always know about and have. That is a driving motivation for the lead character, a reason to relate to them and root for them as they kill the enemy. It also needs an understanding of action movies. The metaphor (not a deep one) for action films is that good will triumph over evil. This film doesnt have it.
This film is just a showcase for violence. Why do you go for Blade??? Because he is seeking revenge for a tortured past??? NO Because he is driven by a moral obligation to make the world better??? No. Its because he has a cool jacket and sunglasses, and knows martial arts. The violence in this film is not intense or graphic. Or even disturbing/unsettling in the least. What it is, is frequent and empty. To boil it all down the plot is. One man attempting to kill a whole race because he knows they are evil and should be killed. Not being subtle but I think Hitler thought the same way. Without any motivation for the violence it just becomes a way for the filmakers to entertain you. While the editing in this film is great, and the cinematography is being inventive, in the end it is just a director who does not understand the genre he is doing and isnt good enough to break out a new one. The script is predictable and doesnt even get "The Heroes Journey" right. The dialogue is aweful and stilted and wiith all this considered the only way left for the main characters to express what they are like is through their acts of violence!!! Blade is a cool good guy because he has a cool sword and does flashy martial arts. Robocop was also violent but the main character had a personality and you know he wouldnt want to kill anyone if the bad guys hadnt killed him and werent trying to destroy the city. Blase likes killing vampires, he likes killing people who align themselves with vampires. He trains so he can beat up vampire servants real good. The main point of this film is to show Violence (and possibly genocide) in a cool and fashionable way without any motivation behind it. Senseless violence for a pointless movie. What I am trying to say is that violence in films can be justified (and good) but this is just a showcase for violence as entertainment, Dont watch Blade. Its bad. Even the special effects are about as unimpressive as you could get!!!