Better than the original by leaps and bounds, Guillermo Del Toro's "Blade II" is a furious, bloody, fun ride with some surprising emotion...

Rating: 9/10 (17 February 2012)

The 2002 New Line release "Blade II" is directed by Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth), from a script by David S. Goyer. (Blade, Batman Begins) A sequel to the 1998 Stephen Norrington comic-book film, "Blade II" is, in every sense, one of those rare sequels that is a triumph over the original, which is no small feat, as the original a strong film in its own right, and is arguably one of the films whose success with the public lead to the modern popularity of comic-book films, and brought about modern classics like "Spider-Man 2" and "The Dark Knight." (Which was co-written by Goyer)
This film picks up a few years after the original. Half-man, Half-vampire Blade (Wesley Snipes) has finally tracked down his former friend and mentor Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristopherson), whom is being held in suspended animation in Prague by a group of vampires. After saving him and ridding his blood of the vampiric virus, Blade and Whistler (along with a new sidekick Scud, played by Norman Reedus) are attacked by two vampiric assassins, who reveal that they were sent by aging elder Damaskinos (Thomas Kretschmann) to ask Blade for help. Blade is forced to team up with a pack of vampires employed by Damaskinos (called "The Blood Pack") in order to battle the "Reapers"- genetically manufactured "Super-Vampires" that have gone out of control, and have the ability (and urge) to kill human and vampire alike.
The plot is a bit silly, but then again, no sillier than the "Blood God" from the first film. The film really works well for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, this is obviously a Guillermo Del Toro film- his distinct and poetic visual style is present, and his camera work is beautiful and elegant. His direction and visual sense is quite astounding, which is a big part of why he is one of my favorite directors of modern cinema. In addition, Marco Beltrami's magnificent and tragic/Gothic score serves as a perfect compliment to Del Toro's masterful direction- the film is a treat for the senses, and is much more elegant than you'd think a film about vampires and martial-arts fights would be.
The acting is very strong. Snipes and Kristopherson deliver subtle, powerful performances, and all of the secondary characters (such as Scud, Damaskinos, and Leonor Varela as Damaskino's beautiful daughter) are all fantastic. Special points go to Blood Pack members played by Ron Perlman and Donnie Yen, whom are just a joy to watch, and are a lot of fun.
The action is a step up this time. The first film had some solid action, but it suffered from what I call "Pre-2000" syndrome (when films like "The Matrix" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" became more prevalent). By that, I mean that the action in the first film felt a little manufactured and didn't flow as nicely as it could have. Here, the action has a more operatic, ballet-like flair, which works better on the big screen. (Save for a few wire-fu moments that left me gagging) There is also a grander scope to this film's action, and it just feels more thrilling.
The visual effects are surprisingly strong, but have some problems, which is where this film loses a point. In 2002, when this came out, CGI artists hadn't quite yet "gotten" how to render people. (And some movies, even today, 10 years later, have this problem) A lot of the effects are improved. When vampires "Ash" (disintigrate), they look much more convincing than in the first film, which looked... well, bad. Also, the effects work on the reapers (who have split-jaws and a phallic, alien-like tongue) was amazing, and looked perfectly real. But for whatever reason, there are a number of shots where Blade (and others) are rendered using CGI models, and it looks... really pathetic. They look like plastic dolls (with bad lighting), and move in a hysterically unnatural way. It really takes you out of the movie at times.
But asides from that one (fairly major) complaint, this is arguably the perfect "Blade" film, and it is the finest of the trilogy. I give this a great 9 out of 10. See this movie!