Release: 2002, theatrical
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman
Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
Previous in the series: Blade
Next in the series: Blade: Trinity
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: Blade is forced to make an alliance with the Vampire Council when a new kind of monster surfaces, the Reapers who feed on vampires.
Hans' thoughts:
This is a perfect example of a sequel done right. It's an entirely new monster, the plot is moved forward rather than rehashed and everything is just... BIGGER. The movie actually turns out to be a far superior film in the long run. A fair warning, however: watch this movie AFTER you've watched the first one. Major spoilers for Blade are present already at the opening monologue, if you care about that sort of thing. So, in this move it is not only Blade who is out to kick ass. He has to be accompanied by this gang of highly trained vampires called "the Bloodpack" (which is a deliciously cheesy name, by the way), who get to kick a bit of ass themselves. Well, I have to admit that, of course, some of the characters don't really get to do much. They are just there to make it look like an actual group, and not just let Ron Perlman hang out with Leonor Varela and Danny John-Jules. Speaking of Ron Perlman, he seems like he is having heavy amounts of fun playing his character, Reinhardt. He ends up doing a better job than anyone else in the movie. This movie is also different from the former, in that the tone is changed. Whereas the first one sort of had James Bond-like qualities in the villain department, this one tones down the comic relief quite a bit. Which is good, because the wrong comic relief at the wrong time could have ruined a lot of the darkness. The monsters in this movie are also very cool, while the first movie just had vampires, and then some sort of super vampire on steroids. This movie certainly brings in the creepy atmosphere. The two main bad guys in the movie almost look like Max Schreck's Count Orlok in Nosferatu (1922), but with one of them having a very creepy twist. As for the action scenes, Wesley Snipes is in tip-top shape, and he actually gets more to do in this one. Of course, they have at times mixed in a bit of CGI effects to show off some outlandish jumps, but they mostly keep it to the points where the actors and stuntmen couldn't keep up. The only bad thing I really have to say about this movie is the character of Scud, played by Norman Reedus. While the character itself is written well enough, it really needed a stronger actor to pull off. As it stands, Reedus tends to drag down the quality of every scene he's in. Not to a preposterous level, but definitely weaker than the scenes without him.
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