Not as good as the first...

Rating: 5/10 (26 March 2002)

I have to admit, after seeing "Resident Evil", I was really in the mood for even more action/horror, so I figured this would be the film to follow it up with. I really enjoyed the first Blade, and I kinda knew going in that this one would probably be a rehash of that film. And it was.
Not a lot of room to develop a serious plot, there is plenty of action and lots of loud music. Kind of like the first. Kris Kristofferson returns (unfortunately), a new "female" is added (thankfully), and this time Blade teams up with his enemies to battle an even badder baddie than NORMAL vampires. Unlike "Resident Evil", I did have a little higher expectations for this film. I really thought that maybe after the first film, they would lay off Blade's past and focus on just kicking ass. But we are once again forced to sit and watch Blade struggle with his past and who he is and can he fall in love...blah blah blah. Truthfully, I think the character of Blade is very cool! But, unlike Batman or Spiderman, he is NOT human and even if he could be, why wouldn't he, after 20 or 30 years, figure out that being Blade is not so bad! He's not a 100% vampire, so he gets to enjoy being out in the sun. He's not 100% human, so he gets to jump off buildings, leap off walls, and kick everyone's butt! I was really hoping that since Blade got to meet his mother in the first, he would have come to terms with who he is and move on. Oh well...
Anyway, on a positive note, the new vampires are very cool. I thought the new villain was more "cartoony" than the first film. Of course, he was also done up to look more like Nosferatu, so the costume and makeup were more scary than the actual villain. I did like the new "love interest" in this one a little bit more. Being a vampire, she could have been a little harder in places, but at least she had an understanding of Blade.

One negative, the filmmakers create a team of vampires to work with Blade, and then they don't even let us get to know them! Unlike, say "Aliens" or "Predator", where you get to at least meet the team, thus allowing the viewer to at least care a little bit if they get eaten by the bad guy, they are so underdeveloped that, except for 2 characters, I could have cared less if they got what was coming to them. Too bad...cause they looked pretty cool!
This film is no where near as good as "Resident Evil". So if you have a choice, you now have my opinion. However, I do think that on some cold January afternoon, when there's nothing else to do but sit at home and watch a couple hours of television, watching both Blade movies one after the other will not be a waste of your time.