By the numbers sequel with few surprises and big plotholes

Rating: 3/10 (23 March 2002)

Where "Blade" successfully pulled the viewer into a very sensual vampire underworld, and maintained that suspension when the film took a super-supernatural turn, "Blade II" alienates & insults the viewer with too many Hollywood cliches. The film's "surprise" is too much like the original, combined with the hokey antics of the "Towelly" episode of South Park.
Tim Burton turned a few city blocks into Gotham City for "Batman", Del Toro struggles with constructing an ethos for the film with the entire city of Prague at his disposal. Del Toro attempted to "scare" the audience, but the attempts are laughable, at best. The elements, apparently designed to scare, are cliche Hollywood slasher.
Worse yet, is the hokey "team" that partners with Blade. For the purposes of this review, let's call them "Fox Force Five". The team members looked more like potential action figures than believable flesh & blood characters. For that matter, all the characters in this film remain static. The first film introduced the viewer to the seedy underworld of vampires, this film is like a documentary of it. All the scenes of vampire culture are shot from a distinct, third person pov. This further disconnects the viewer.

The "love story" angle is poorly underdeveloped here, especially viewed in comparison with the first film's Oedipal overtures. Blade's love interest is underdeveloped, and while the actress is stunning, the character falls flat.
The highlight of the film, of course, is the creation of the "Vampire Nation". In the first film, vampires existed, and helped operate things from behind the scenes. In this film, the over the top protrayal of them is just too much - vampires have corporate offices now.
Of course, action is the name of the game - but with all the nonsense heeped onto this weak story, there's not much room for it. The first film's groundbreaking martial arts - backed up by excellent physical acting by Snipes, are sadly mediocre in this film. The set design for these fights are standard fare - the catwalk, the church, the underground tunnel, etc.

In all, a dissappointing sequel that has little of the energy, style, or sensibilities of the first film.