Well worth the price of admission

Rating: Null/10 (18 March 2003)

I was thoroughly impressed with "Blade II," although I do feel it could have used some extra work. Wesley Snipes is bad ass, as usual, as Blade, the "Daywalker" (half human/half vampire). For those who may not have seen the original or may not know about the comic book, Snipes gives a brief, but thorough introduction to his character and that of Whistler, his mentor so you don't get lost. It won't be like trying to see the "Lord of the Rings" or "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" without seeing the first series installments.
In the first film, Snipes just brooded as he slowly revealed his world to N'Bushe Wright. In this film, he gets to let loose and even show some emotions, such as when he rescues Whistler and later with the female lead. Some of the action is cartoonish, but, hey Blade is a Marvel Comics character.
The supporting cast is tight, too. Kris Kristofferson is tough as nails, although he manages to take way too many punches for a guy his age. Ron Perlman plays yet another guy with serious attitude as a Reinhardt, a member of the Bloodpack, vampire mercenaries trained to hunt Blade, but who must now join up with him as their leader to deal with Reapers, a new strain of vampire. I wish director Guillermo del Toro ("Mimic," "Cronos") could have fleshed out the rest of the Blood Pack (Priest, Snowman, Chupa, Lili and Lighthammer all get serious camera time, but remain two-dimensional). Del Toro should have taken a page from "Aliens" in which most of the space Marines reveal some character.
Luke Goss as Jared Nomak, the original Reaper, is almost as impressive a bad guy as Stephen Dourif was as Deacon Frost in the original. He's totally believable, especially in the opening scene when he had me thinking he was just an extra about to be sliced and diced by vampires at a Czech blood bank. Thomas Kretschmann is suitably evil as the vampire overlord Eli Damaskinos, although he never gets to the point where I cared when he got his comeuppance. Karel Roden plays the slimy lawyer to a tee.
Best of all, though, is the lovely half-Chilean, half-French bombshell Leonor Varela ("Cleopatra"). She plays Nyssa, Damaskinos' daughter. She can act and with the skintight black leather suits, she looks hotter than hot. Hotter even than former porn queen Traci Lords was in the original movie. The only thing I hated about Varela was that del Toro began to show Blade and her character warming to each other, but he never really explore it. Let's just say, I was really disappointed in the ending, though it was heart-wrenching and poignant.
The action is magnificent. Some of the CGI effects when Blade and Nyssa go at it looks silly, but it doesn't detract from the film. The best action, though, is a scene later when an unarmed Blade takes on a couple of dozen "familiars" (humans who have sold out to the vampires) armed with cattle prods. The martial arts here are believable and cool and reminded me of Bruce Lee's legendary fight scene with the guards in the underground complex in "Enter the Dragon."
Also, check out the fighting in the House of Pain, a disco for vampires (seriously). The gunfights are awesome (and show you how much pure-blooded vampires really like their half-breed cousins). Donnie Yen as Snowman choreographs the fight scenes and even gets to show off some of his stuff himself (although the film could have used more of him since he comes off as likeable and not a smartass like Chupa, Priest or Reinhardt). On a side note, the producers hired some hot-looking women to play female vampires at this club. They certainly don't look anything like the traditional pasty-skinned vamps from the various Dracula films.
All in all, "Blade II" is worth adding to your video collection, even if you're not a fan of the comics.