A different flavor

Rating: 7/10 (28 August 2009)

I base this on the Special Edition DVD release. When a strange and aggressively reproducing breed of vampire turns up, Blade finds himself forming an alliance, which is born out of necessity and very unstable, with his life-long enemies. This makes for an interesting and fresh situation for the film series, and the dynamics, how the uncomfortable group relates to each other, does lead to some nice moments. The bad-ass factor is back and kicking, though it kind of gets to be over the top at points. Maybe that was the idea, I guess. Ron adds a lot to it, obviously, the man could render anything awesome, and him and Wesley are impeccable together. The ego-stroking is absolutely ridiculous, and this is so full of testosterone that the audience is likely to drown in it during the viewing, but there are dramatic instances, too, and the conflict between the two sides working together definitely doesn't cease to be tense or cool during the running time. This is paced well, with quite a lot of build-up as well as action(and every sequence of that feels unique from the rest in the movie, and they tend to rock), and it's certainly never boring. Instead of attempting to top the opening of the first(let's be honest, the rest of that film didn't manage that, and with good reason), this chooses another route, and thus also does a fantastic job of setting the tone, as it is not the same as Norrington's entry. While what you prefer is up to the individual, it's tough to claim that these aren't both marvelous, pun intended. This is more playful, intentionally cheesy, and the horror aspect gets used to a greater extent. There is genuine suspense in this. The effects are far superior to those of the original, if whether or not you care for the new way the death ones look is subjective. Dialog is pretty well-done. The story is magnificent again, if at least one subplot is awkwardly half-way cut out, leaving odd moments that don't stand on their own. Acting is mostly impressive. The music is spot-on, at least the equal of the 1998 flick, and possibly better. There is strong language, disturbing content and bloody, brutal violence in this. On the two discs are three audio tracks(a commentary with a Frankfurt and Del Toro, who is amusing, one with Goyer and Snipes, who is hilarious, and an "isolated score" one), the "press kit", several featurettes(the one that distinguishes itself is The Blood Pact, a documentary of around 90 minutes, which I will review on its own page here on the site), deleted/alternate scenes that you can watch with or without the director and producer's thoughts, all of which are informative. Finally, there's an art gallery, a "survival guide" for the tie-in video-game, a music video, a teaser and a theatrical trailer. I recommend this to fans of Guillermo's style and/or of the franchise. Noteworthy sequels are a rare sight, and this certainly deserves recognition for helping to combat that unpleasant truth. 7/10