Slick vampiric action

Rating: 7/10 (17 July 2009)

Technically and visually, it's awesome. The director is great at making action look cool. The fight scenes are fast, sharp and exciting, probably helped a lot by the choreography of Donnie Yen (although he was not alone). The actors were obviously replaced by computer graphics a few times but it's not too bad. One of the best parts of the film is the blood pack, a team of vampires. They might not be developed very much but they have killer looks and moves. The story had a promising concept, a new strain of vampires hunting traditional vampires, and their design was very good and creepy, especially the mouth. However, the action eclipses the story by a fair margin and there's not much plot development nor is it likely you will care much about the few dramatic elements. Wesley Snipes as Blade shows amazing physical prowess but almost always wearing his dark glasses is almost as stoic as Arnold in the Terminator movies. This is interesting to see as a stepping stone for talented director Del Toro's future projects: the 2 Hellboys and Pan's Labyrinth. It's also a decent sequel to the first Blade without as much character development but stronger action and visual design. It's worth a rental and perhaps a buy if you're a Benicio Del Toro's or Blade fan. It's leagues above the rather poor third installment and it's where you see how much a director makes the difference.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10