It's been said there have been more movies on the subject of vampires than any other type of creature or character. It's a tougher genre to succeed in now than 20 years ago, because the creativity pool has pretty much been desiccated. For all its high-energy editing, whirling techno score, and quick stunts, in the end 1998's Blade checks in as just another entry in that vampire category and nothing more.
Wesley Snipes plays the title character as a half-vampire outcast who kills his own kind. It's the perfect role for Snipes because the moody loner of few words is his action hero trademark. Blade was born of a human woman who had been bitten by a vampire, and grows to despise all vampires, regardless if they're purebred through and through or if they're semi-vampires such as his nemesis Frost (a thankless performance by Stephen Dorff). He's basically a bounty hunter who doesn't get compensated. There's also a subplot about a girl (N'bushe Wright) who herself gets bit by The Undead and thinks it really sucks. The screenplay is kind of all over the map as it tries to tap into ancient mythology, Gen X angst and ultra-violent tendencies without really settling on anyone approach. It's too bad, because there are many possibilities with all of Blade's neat toys and partially interesting bad guys.
Blade is based on a Marvel comic book and in that category I'll admit it is a visually intriguing endeavour. I myself have never read the comic, but there is little fun in the movie and far too many dark elements. We see rivers, showers, or pools of blood splattered throughout the picture, but not nearly enough reasons to cheer for either the good guy or the bad guy, for that matter. Even Blade's trusty sidekick Whistler (played by Kris Kristofferson) is depicted hacking up a lung or cursing his own existence, which is about as much fun as getting punctured in the neck. I'm not saying movies about vampires need to have rainbows and magical leprechauns, but director Stephen Norrington never really gives a valid reason why Blade would even care enough about his fellow man to save them from vampires. He's a real killjoy.
I see on the Internet Movie Data Base website that Blade 2 is slated for release in 2002. Yippee. Let's hope the filmmakers and the screenwriters can infuse a bit more life into the next one.
