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| Source: rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup | | Rating: 3
| BLADE is a comic book adaptation, which in recent years has meant you could expect one of two approaches: brooding and violent (THE CROW, SPAWN) or gaudy and hyper-kinetic (BATMAN AND ROBIN, THE MASK, TANK GIRL). BLADE is no exception...sort of. Instead of choosing one familiar path or the other, the makers of BLADE have chosen both -- it's brooding, gaudy, violent _and_ hyper-kinetic. The surprising good news is that it comes impressively close to succeeding at both. The bad news is that means it doesn't entirely succeed at either one.
The premise alone is intriguing enough to give it a fair shot. In a prologue set thirty years ago, we see a woman dying from a vampire attack just as she gives birth to a son. Flash forward to the present day, where that son has grown up to be Blade (Wesley Snipes), a hybrid with all the strength of a vampire but none of the weaknesses -- he can walk in daylight with impunity, eat a pizza with extra garlic, and so on. That makes him ideally suited for his vocation as vampire hunter, which he and his weapons guru/mentor Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) carry out with extreme prejudice. His latest challenge is a young upstart named Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff, the poor man's Kevin Bacon), who plans to unleash some sort of vampiric armageddon upon humanity unless Blade can cut him down to size first.
All right, the latter portion doesn't qualify as any sort of intriguing. It's more in that gaudy and hyper-kinetic category, a climactic conclusion to two hours of punishing, extremely sanguine action. It's also extremely effective action, directed by former special effects make-up artist Stephen Norrington at the kind of blistering pace generally associated with Jackie Chan films. Make no mistake, BLADE _moves_, with dynamic fight sequences and a parade of gruesome special effects -- exploding vampire heads, disintegrating vampire bodies, vampire skeletons crawling out of their skins. With Snipes anchoring the action as the chiseled anti-hero, BLADE's frenzied, over-the-top battles offer plenty of visceral thrills.
Of course, it has to pause every once in a while for exposition, which usually is where films of this kind collapse into a puddle of stupidity. BLADE, on the other hand, teases with provocative concepts that ultimately go nowhere. The tormented hero is nothing new in the modern "graphic novel" comic book milieu, but BLADE adds the notion of our protagonist as (in Deacon's words) a vampire Uncle Tom, trying to pass himself off as human because he's uncomfortable with his vampire lineage. There are more hints of vampires as a persecuted minority in scenes of a vampire council discussing how they have struck bargains with humans for their mutual survival. When the militant Deacon rejects the assimilation tactics of his elders in favor of "vampire power," it could have been the basis for more complex themes than you'd ever expect from a comic book thriller. Is Blade, for all his righteous wrath, merely engaging in a sort of "ethnic cleansing?" Could Deacon just be firing up a "we're here, we're vampires, get used to it" civil rights movement?
Interesting questions, if anyone had bothered to ask them. Unfortunately, the politics of vampirism quickly gives way to simple, rapid-fire good guy vs. bad guy stuff. There's a token pseudo-romantic interest (N'Bushe Wright), a thick-headed henchman (Donal Logue), and a villain whose only distinguishing characteristic is his villainy. BLADE keeps setting you up to expect that the sub-text is going to matter somehow, then always bails out for another round of spinning back-kicks and shotgun blasts. I suppose you could take a glass-half-full view and applaud both the quality of the action and the mere attempt to give depth to the viscera. There's just too much viscera, and not enough depth, to take that attempt seriously. It's an exciting under-achiever -- to brooding to be pure gaudy fun, to gaudy to let its brooding go anywhere interesting.
By : Scott Renshaw
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| | Source: rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup | | Rating: 3
| BLADE is the picture for those of you who have avoided Jackie Chan movies because you think he's a wimp. As that fearless vampire killer known simply as Blade, Wesley Snipes kills more men in a single scene that Chan attacks in an entire movie. This over-the-top action is, of course, either totally cool or completely ridiculous depending on your point of view.
Arguably the most fascinating part of the movie is the carefully constructed vampire world that writer David S. Goyer lays out for us. At the top of the vampire hierarchy are the pure bloods. These elite, who meet in expensive board rooms to manage their investments, wear blue suits that would make them look like Wall Street brokers except for their walk, which gives the appearance that the suits are starched.
In BLADE the vampire social structure is in the process of being upset by a group of rebellious youngsters of a less than pure strain. Stephen Dorff plays their leader, Deacon Frost. Frost likes to take his minions to hidden raves in which blood pours from the fire sprinklers as the DJ plays heavy metal music. Frost even arranges the procurement of humans for some late night snacks.
Snipes, who has a wide acting range from action heroes (MURDER AT 1600) to lovers (ONE NIGHT STAND), rarely gets offered the best material. Regardless of the quality of script, he manages to put so much energy into it that it is usually worth watching. Some actors possess great natural talent, but with Snipes it is more his intensity and commitment that make the difference.
BLADE's director, Stephen Norrington, clearly wants to make a fast-paced, no-holds barred bloodfest, and he succeeds. If vampire pictures are your cup of tea, this is one of the better ones. (Personally, I don't think I'll ever see a better one than HABIT, which I reviewed earlier this year.) The problem with Norrington's approach is that it soon becomes highly repetitive. A half-hour would probably suffice for most viewers, and some will be so grossed out by French kissing vampires with blood drenched mouths that they will leave before the film is over anyway.
As Abraham Whistler, Kris Kristofferson plays an old character who makes the weapons for Blade to use in his attempt to wipe out the vampire nation. Even if the guns are sleek and powerful, Blade's noisy, old black Dodge Charger provides as much visceral thrill as its aging mufflers growl.
Although we learn that silver bullets and essence of garlic are the best vampire weapons, there are others. The movie leaves you with a reason not to throw out that old cancer-inducing sunlamp you have in the back of the closet. One ancient vampire, who would make Jabba the Hutt look svelte, is fried with just such a weapon.
By : Steve Rhodes
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