"II" Has just as much bite as the original

Rating: Null/10 (6 April 2002)

You Can never trust a vampire.
What can I say about blade II? When I went into the theater, I was expecting the same ultraviolent fare as the original Blade.
What I didn't expect is an element of horror added into the mix. It was an excellent idea to have vampires, the always cool villains of the silver screen, as prey to the disgusting brood of reapers (or reavers as I heard it) created by Nomak.
Blade, even more kick-ass and near invincible than ever, is out to recover and tie up some loose ends, namely Whistler. This is just the beginning of the whole set-up involving the Bloodpack, Nomak and his reapers.
Blade unwillingly teams up with the Bloodpack, a team of vamps that have trained ever since the events of "Blade" to kill the Daywalker. Now their concern is not Blade, but Nomak, a new strain of vampire who is a threat to vampire and human-kind alike.
The bloodpack is an interesting, made-to-be-action-figures group: among them is Nyssa is the vampire princess; Asad, a clean cut British accented black guy; Light Hammer, a big, silent stong man; Verlaine, Light hammer's lady; Chupa, a foul mouthed Vamp, and snowman, a samurai-weilding japanese vamp (The incredible Donnie yen, who needed more screen time in my opinion).
But the real focus is on the reapers, who add some creepiness to the picture. they climb and stick on walls like spider man and stalk their prey like a pack of those Aliens Sigourney Weaver fought.
There is a lot more running, biting and shooting than fighting in this movie, but when Blade goes at it, the action is as violent as you can imagine.
The main difference between parts I and II is that Blade and his adversaries are enhanced by CGI so that some unimaginable superhuman moves can be performed.
For example, when the BloodPack intrudes onto Blade's hideout, his fight with one of the 'pack is done noticably by puppets.
Also, the illusion of distance is enhanced by CGI as well, making bone breaking moves seem even more harmul.
There is a twist in Blade II's plot, which I did welcome.
Guilermo Del Toro has put together a fine movie, denying anyone who says "sequels suck" to say that Blade II is not on the same level of Blade.