Blood-drenched action flick that delivers the goods

Rating: 8/10 (24 July 2007)

"Blade II" is a blast, an atmospheric horror-action thrill ride from director Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth). Filling his canvas with sticky surfaces, gold hues and tones, and blood as only del Toro can do blood, "Blade II" is simultaneously exciting and gross.
Long story short: Blade (Wesley Snipes) must join forces with the Vampire Nation to eliminate a new breed of vampires called Reapers. Reapers feed on both humans AND vampires, so it's bad news for both sides. Made leader of a team previously trained to hunt him (which includes amongst its members Ron Perlman and Donnie Yen), Blade finds himself in some very deep trouble as he discovers that there is more than meets the eye to the Reapers.
The Reapers are one of the best parts of Blade II. Armed with Predator-esquire jaws and an incredibly disgusting tongue, they are quite possibly the grossest antagonists in recent memory. They are also very persistent, occasionally resembling the creatures from the Alien series. There is an autopsy on a fallen Reaper that is both fascinating and repulsive; I would suggest not eating before watching this scene.
del Toro does a fine job with the action scenes; wisely utilizing the terror of the Reapers as a starting point, the only downsides to the action are the occasionally really fake-looking CGI stunt men (especially in the vampire-ninja fight). The smack downs between Blade and Nomak (Luke Goss), the original Reaper, are wonderfully over-the-top and cartoony.
Blade II is just loads of fun, even more so than the first movie. Just remember not to eat before watching.