A worthy sequel

Rating: Null/10 (26 March 2002)

Blade II: Blood Hunt
Sequels are a tricky business. You can take a perfectly good movie and in the interest of bringing in more dough, end up with something that isn't near as good (witness the glory of Highlander and the sequel we won't discuss), or, you can write a story well enough that you have something which improves on the first (see the fun Rush Hour and the improved Rush Hour 2). Thankfully the folks from Marvel Comics movie line were able to fall into the latter category with Blade II.	Those of us who saw the first one (or read the comics which he appeared in) know that Blade (played by Wesley Snipes) was infected by the vampire virus while in utero and was born with all the strengths of the vampire (nearly invulnerable, enhanced strength, increased speed and agility) and none of their weaknesses (crosses, sunlight, silver). He does have the blood lust of the vampire but through serums is able to keep it under control. As we saw in the first movie, with the assistance of his ally Whistler, Kris Kristofferson, Blade is the scourge of the vampire nations.	Since the end of the first movie approximately three years have passed. It appeared at the time of that movie that Whistler had died but apparently he had been whisked away by the vampires and was constantly being moved as Blade and his new weapons ally, Scud, tracked them across the world. Blade finally frees Whistler and the three find their hideout under attack by some vampire warriors. However the warriors are only bringing a message to Blade from the leader of the vampires. They are proposing a truce as something far worse than Blade has begun hunting them. A new breed of vampires known as Reapers have mutated and begun attacking vampires. Unfortunately a bite from a Reaper tends to turn the attacked vampire into a new Reaper with the urge to kill more vampires. Typically this wouldn't bother Blade but once the vampires are gone, humanity would be the next prey.	Blade agrees to lead a group of warrior known as The Bloodpack against the Reapers. The irony here occurs in that the Bloodpack has spent the better part of two years training to fight their new leader. The pack on a whole is anonymous with two standing out, Reinhardt played by Ron Perlman is their deposed leader and Nyssa played by Leonor Varela carries a secret which will unfold throughout the movie.	The first meeting of Blade's group doesn't go near as well as they hoped since they discover most of the typical weapons against vampires are now useless. Through some research they discover the main weapon, sunlight, still works and set about making new weapons.	The final battle against the Reapers carries some consequences unforeseen and then treachery strikes Blade with the actual villain being revealed.	This movie is heavily action oriented, is about a vampire hunter, and is quite gory. If those things turn you off, don't go see this movie. If, on the other hand, you don't mind those, you will most likely find this an entertaining movie. Spanish Director Guillermo del Toro brings a dark, macabre look to this film. His Reapers are as different from vampires as vampires from humanity. Their look is stylized and fresh. Their method of attack must be seen to be believed. His pacing of the movie is right on pace with possibly more action than the original yet still maintaining some semblance's of an adequate plot.	The actors tend to be what makes this movie. Many people see Wesley in only action roles and don't realize that he can act. Here he handles the action sequences superbly and has an understated method for delivering his lines in the best possible manner. He gets off many worthy of laughs. Ron Perlman is probably doing the best role I have seen from him in a long time. Usually his characters die relatively quickly but Reinhardt survives much of the movie and is one truly evil personuh vampire.	The fight choreography is spectacular. Donnie Yen, most recently seen in Highlander: Endgame and soon to be seen in Shanghai Knights, plays as one of the Bloodpack. His character doesn't get much screen time but his pacing for the fights is wonderful. The sequences are much more intricate than the previous film and lead to a glorious treat for action fans.	Are there problems with this movie? Sure, a couple. The relationship between Blade and Nyssa isn't explained too well and some of the computer graphics do go way over the top. In fact an early scene had me wondering but they pulled it together before going further. However, those are just a small sampling which otherwise don't detract from a wonderful addition to the Blade universe. ***