An entertaining Blade

Rating: 7/10 (27 March 2006)

In the mid-1990s, Marvel Comics film adaptations where in the midst of some serious doldrums. The previous released Marvel adaptation had been a film version of Captain America that was produced for a extremely low budget and ended up going straight to video, which was appropriate considering how terrible it was. There had also been an abortive attempt to produce a Fantastic Four film, but after the completion of the film, it was shelved when producer Bern Eichenger made a deal with director/producer Chris Columbus to produce a big-budget version (which would take more than a decade to actually make it to screen). It was into this environment of calamity that emerged a film centered around a little-known Marvel character named Blade. Blade, a half-human, half-vampire who has devoted his life to destroying other vampires, didn't seem like a likely choice to bring some light to the Marvel universe, but it did and managed, in many ways to breathe life back into Marvel film adaptations.
Written by comics aficionado David Goyer (whose personal collection of comics reportedly stretched into the thousands), Blade was a vehicle for Wesley Snipes, directed by a former make-up effects artist turned director named Stephen Norrington. The results, while not perfect, are rather entertaining for a action-driven comic adaptation. Blade starts off with guns blazing, featuring a high-energy action sequence in an impromptu vampire nightclub where vampires gather to feast on unlucky victims. The sequence is full of energy, some rather tense suspense at the appropriate moments and well-staged fight sequences.
It is from here that the film's plot begins to unfold: the world is secretly ruled by an ancient race of vampires who control much of the financial empire throughout the globe, manipulating humans and using some as their pawns. Blade, assisted by his mentor, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), a man whose family was killed by a vampire, hunts down vampires from city to city, desperately attempting to rid the world of this scourge. It is after a vampire bites a doctor involved in blood research, Karen Jenson (N'Bushe Wright), whom Blade attempts to save from becoming a vampire, that he finds himself drawn closer to his arch-nemesis, Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff), who is attempting to translate ancient vampire text to discover the secrets of a all-powerful deity who will transform the world into vampires.
Blade is not high-art, that is for sure. The film is not designed to change your life or make you think deeply about important issues. It is, however, designed to provide some entertainment for it's running time, and pulls it off fairly well. As with other films of it's type, when a complicated culture has to be introduced to the audience, an outsider is the perfect opportunity, and Karen Jenson provides that entrance into the world of the vampires, allowing for exposition that is not unrealistically placed. We learn a fair amount about the film's vampire world, and it proves interesting at times. However, this is first and foremost an action film, and Blade services that aspect well. Beyond the opening scene, there are several major fight sequences in Blade, all well choreographed and destined to get the adrenaline pumping. Director Norrington uses some stylization during the course of the film, including time-lapse photography, but doesn't overdo it like other films heavy on action in recent years.
Wesley Snipes is strong in the role of Blade, making an indelible impression, even with limited dialogue. He looks the part of hardened vampire killer and wears the role well. Kris Kristofferson is good as his mentor Whistler, providing some necessary levity at moments and giving us a more human hero to latch onto when Blade proves a bit less than talkative. N'Bushe Wright is serviceable in her role, but proves to be a somewhat bland companion for Blade. Stephen Dorff gives a good performance as the villain, without going over the top.
Blade is not quite as good as other Marvel adaptations that followed it in short order, such as X-Men and Spider-Man, but it is a decent piece of action film-making that does it's job well.