generally acceptable way to blow a couple of hours

Rating: 5/10 (11 August 2004)

Blade II is basically decent. It's got a few cool and/or effective moments, it keeps moving, and everything about it says "basically adequate though uninspired action flick." Snipes makes an acceptable b-movie sort of action figure, with less presence than Vin Diesel but more talent than Chuck Norris. Kristofferson is blandly adequate in his very generic role. Ron Perlman is, of course, quite good, although the movie's characters let several good chances to kill him go by just so they can keep him around longer. The minimal story is pretty much okay. Some of the fight scenes are well-choreographed, although the finale is a bit too along the lines of a wrestling match.
I watched it to the end and didn't feel overly restless, so if you just kind of like action pictures and it's on TV it's worth at least looking at. But that's about the best I can say for it.