Solid horror/action

Rating: 7/10 (18 March 2002)

"Blade 2"'s biggest weaknesses are a weak plot with a number of holes in it; however, its strengths overwhelm that flaw and produce a very solid piece of horror/action fare that follows the original movie very well.
Del Toro's direction is top-notch, with darkness and light playing a much greater role in this film than the original. With character design and art consulting by comic-book masters Timothy Bradstreet and Mike Mignola, and sets taken straight from the decaying inner cities of Eastern Europe, the film has a consistantly strong texture. Of special note are the character designs for the "Bloodpack", the group of vampire warriors which Blade must lead. The detail level of their costumes and equipment is phenominal.
Ron Perlman's character "Rheinhart" will be quite surprising for those of us you who only know the actor from movies like "The City Of Lost Children". As Blade's mirror-image (as the former leader of the Bloodpack), Rheinhart shows off Perlman's ability to play villians to the hilt.
The primary "bad guys" of the film, the uber-vampires known as "Reapers", are extremely well-created. None of the trailers show off their most important feature, which will both shock and amaze you when you see it. Similarly, the gore effects are quite amazing, with excellent blending between computer effects and classic methods.
That said, there are a number of moments where the computer effects are sub-par; in particular, the scenes where Blade is rendered fully by computers are lacking in believability. Those scenes are short, however.
Finally, the action scenes are choreographed extremely well. There are a number of scenes that are deliberately evocative of the original movie, but Del Toro's direction is distinctly his own. My only complaint is that Donnie Yen (the HK film star, known to US audiences for his role in "Iron Monkey") didn't get to kick enough ass... but this wasn't a starring role for him, so I guess I can't expect too much.
Overall a good sequel. Now I'm waiting for "Hellboy" with even more baited breath.