Blade II

Released in 2002, Blade's sequel (entitled, appropriately enough, Blade 2) was not a film directed by any old director. No, this was directed by legendary Mexican director Gullermo Del Toro. A man known for supernatural, horror and just the plain weird. On the face of it, he seems the perfect fit for a Blade movie.

And, as this film proves, he totally is. Blade 2 features some truly stunning pieces of cinematography, be it the literal blood bath in the villain's lair or the magnificent sunset when Blade's (Wesley Snipes) latest romantic interest Nyssa (Leonor Varela) flitters away due to exposure to sunlight. It's a striking film to look at, and you would expect no less from a director of Gullermo Del Toro's talents.

It's also not a film for the faint-hearted. This film surprisingly is only a 15 and yet it features some really gory imagery. There's one scene towards the end where spikes are protruding through Blade's chest, and you see the blood splattered on said spikes. I'm surprised this didn't get rated 18 like the first film, as it feels as though there is the same level of intensity here as in the previous instalment.

The reapers are such an interesting concept for this film, and much better than the antagonists in the first movie. Their main selling point is that they feed off the blood of both humans and vampires, and this isn't something I've seen done before. It's such a unique angle for the sequel to take; something different from the generic villainy from the first movie.

A twist I really did not see coming was that Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) - who it seemed had died in the first film - is, in actuality, still alive. It seems shooting himself was not a sure-fire way to prevent himself being turned into a vampire, and it honestly makes this character feel like quite a tragic figure. I would guess that this means he will get the same sense of thirst as other vampire figures in this franchise, and will require something similar to Blade's antidote in order to properly control it. It will be interesting to see if this is covered whenever I choose to watch Blade Trinity, as at the moment it feels like a question waiting to be answered.

This is not the only twist in the movie however, as Blade's new ally Scud (Norman Reedus) is not the helping hand he initially appears to be. When we meet him he seems harmless if a little rowdy, but when his true intentions come clear, it really hurts as viewers to see this man we trusted turn out to be on the wrong side. It's a great twist precisely because we are made to care for him though, and whilst unexpected it doesn't come entirely from nowhere either. Even early on in the film, Whistler doesn't appear to entirely trust him, and so the idea is seeded that he might not be quite so innocent. The double twist is even more interesting, as we learn that Blade had already cottoned on to Scud hiding his true allegiance - a double bluff that makes for a satisfying end for Scud.

That's not the most shocking event in this film however. That goes to the moment Priest (Tony Curran) is bitten by a reaper and starts to transform into one of them. This is a truly horrific sequence, which ends with Priest's comrade Chupa (Matt Schulze) forced to put him out of his misery by shooting him through the heart. And yes, that is the same Tony Curran who later played Vincent Van Gogh in Doctor Who.

Overall, Blade 2 is that rare event in cinema where the sequel truly surpasses the first film. Featuring superb directing by Gullermo Del Toro, this is a sequel that successfully manages to expand on the first entry, whilst also providing both the shocks and the heart that any good stories require. Blade 2 is what happens when you combine a franchise with a visionary, and it's a film that any Marvel fan should totally check out.

Not as good as the first one but still awesome!

THIS.WAS.EPIC!!!!!!

Alright, I don't know if I am just caught up in the hype of a Blade reboot, but so far the original films have not disappointed and this one was by far the best in the franchise so far. Let's start off with the story which involves Blade teaming up with the Vampires to take down these super vampires (not sure of the name) and immediately that sounds like an awesome premise, trust me it pays off in every way with the action being some of the best I have seen in a comic book film with it not holding back on the gore.

The cast was freaking awesome in this with Wesley Snipes (Blade) still being the living embodiment of this character showing that an adaptation can be so good that it changes the source material to match it, the addition of Ron Perlman (Reinhardt), Norman Reedus (Scud) and Luke Goss (Nomak) was honestly chefs kiss and I really wish I saw Luke Goss in more movies like this as he was perfect in this and he was also perfect in Hellboy 2 so I am just suggesting to cast him in bigger movies. Also, I have to shout out Leonor Varela (Nyssa) who I thought added more emotional depth to the film and a character like hers was definitely missing from the first film.

Now it isn't flawless because Donnie Yen (Snowman) is underused and the CGI is a tad dated in scenes, but I promise this is such a great ride from start to finish and I feel like I need to give Guillermo del Toro credit for that as he just knows how to have fun with his films but also make you feel for the characters.

Please watch this and get ready to have some fun :)

P.S. The soundtrack is so great as well and without spoiling anything, the ending is so satisfying.

No wonder I liked Guillermo del toro when he was here...
I hope marvel takes him into account...
Some effects didn't convince me, and the story was more or less...
But I don't like the fact that they revive the characters...
It takes away from the drama...

[7.5/10] *Blade II* is one-hundred percent a style over substance movie. But what style! This is basically a tech demo for early 2000s CGI, tricked out weaponry, overexaggerated martial arts, and the kind of prosthetic and practical grotesquery that director Guillermo del Toro specializes in. Everything is about the vibes, the style, the imagery, and the mood. The story is an afterthought. And yet, I’m not really complaining.

The plot is there. This time around, the vampires seek an alliance with Blade. A new breed of vampires, dubbed “reapers”, have emerged. They look like more old school nosferatu-style vampires, with a more animalistic gait, immunity to garlic and silver, an apparent healing factor, and a ravenous “crackhead” style desire to feed on anything and everything, including regular vampires.

Look, there is something profoundly lazy about asking “What if we had vampires who fed on other vampires?” but also something profoundly cool about it in that ten-year-old imagination game sort of way. The reapers themselves are neat antagonists, with some extra juice that makes them harder to kill than the usual vamps who Blade cuts through like butter, and the sense that they’re genuine movie monsters worth fearing, rather than just cool dudes in black leather who happen to sport fangs.

They lend themselves to one of the things del Toro does best -- freak the audience the hell out. There are so many gloriously creepy moments involving the reapers. The way their jaws unhinge, revealing an undulating spiked tongue, is marvelously, skin-crawlingly awful. The way one takes a giant hammer to the head and just snaps its neck back into place, or another gets stabbed in the abdomen only to scurry up a wall with its innards spilling out is delightfully gross. And when forgettable love interest Nyssa dissects one of them, the pulsating viscera of the beast’s internal organs makes for a fantastic, nauseating effect.

*Blade II* runs entirely on action-packed or bloody spectacle. The latter is a favorite of mine from del Toro’s filmography, and on that front, the film doesn’t disappoint.

The action ain't half bad either! If you like to see a motley crew of badasses in black leather popping vampires like party balloons with increasingly absurd implements, you’ve come to the right place. None of this bears even the patina of realism, but that’s a feature, not a bug. Vamps explode like popcorn balls filled with firecrackers. Warriors defy gravity with their strikes and slams. All manner of ridiculous weaponry pumps enemies full of lead, light, and the chemical compound du jour. This is a smorgasbord of absurd combat, and it’s enjoyable for its shallow thrills at nearly every turn.

Of course, Wesley Snipes is the star, and earns the designation once again. He has this impossibly cool presence that helps carry the tenor of certain scenes. Whether it’s him, or his stunt double, or his CGI duplicate, the way he moves within the frame is bone-cracking yet balletic. You buy his prowess as the daywalker, which is an essential part of the movie.

My only complaint about the action is that there’s too much of it at once. *Blade II* is all ups. Outside of a brief reunion with Blade and Whistler early on, and a short interlude before the third act, the movie just jumps from high octane set piece to high octane set piece. It steadily becomes a little overwhelming and even exhausting, to where, by the time of the final fight between Blade and Nomak, the patient zero of reapers, it was tough to focus from all the overstimulation along the way to that climactic battle. The pacing here is relentless, which is a bold choice, but one that ends up detracting from the top notch action at play, when you never have a chance to breathe or differentiate it.

Nonetheless, part of what keeps this business interesting is the outstanding production design and costuming work evident in the movie. The production team finds or makes any number of eye-catching, over-the-top backdrops in which to set the fireworks and fisticuffs, from a rave designed to top the signature sequence of the first film, to a regal vampiric lair, to a craggy and cavernous sewer. There’s a superb sense of place here, which is part of how *Blade II* is able to make up for its threadbare story.

And the costuming is part of how it’s able to make up for its threadbare characters. Make no mistake -- save for a returning Blade and Whistler, everyone in the cast is new, and most of them can’t act to save their lives. But by god, they look cool as hell, with distinctive variations on the *Matrix*-y black leather themes, funky hairstyles or tattoos, and other parts of their unique looks that give them a flavor from appearance alone, which is good since neither the script nor the performances develop them in the slightest.

The exception, of course, is del Toro favorite, Ron Perlman, who plays Reinhardt, the head goon on the goofily-named “blood pack”, a group of elite vampires originally trained to kill Blade, but now taking orders from him to help stop the reapers. Reinhardt is as underwritten as anyone, but Perlman is the only player in the piece who can match Snipes in terms of presence and attitude, and it helps elevate an otherwise generic role.

Pretty much everyone else in the picture is barely-there cannon fodder. The head vampire and head reaper are more a bundle of prosthetics than they are characters. Most of the goon squad Blade leads have personalities that end at their costumes. A young Norman Reedus (who would go on to fight the undead again in *The Walking Dead* plays a memorable enough young punk named Scud with aplomb.

The biggest offender in the cast is Leonor Varela, who plays Nyssa, another blood pack fighter who’s the female lead of the film, who seemingly has never experienced actual genuine emotions or spoken actual words before. In a film where the performers are more likely to literally set the world on fire with their acting than figuratively do so, she nonetheless stands out as uniquely, comically bad in her line deliveries and attempts to emote.

It’s not like the script gives her much to work with, though. David S. Goyer turns in another one of these scripts, and about all you can say for it is that it serves as a suitably spine for del Toro and company to build set pieces off of. Nyssa’s romantic relationship with Blade is as hollow as a blood-sucker’s soul, and her relationship with her uber-vamp dad is no richer. Honestly, it feels like the script is barely even trying, content to do the bare minimum with the knowledge that nobody is here for an intricate story, so all it can offer is some stock beats and attempts at a few surprises.

There is the occasional mildly clever twist, like the film wanting you to think that Whistler may be at turncoat after his time with the vampires, only for Scud to in fact be the quisling, or the reapers being genetically engineered experiments from the head vampire rather than an accidental evolutionary enemy. But honestly, it’s all just window dressing for the stylish skirmishes that are the film’s stock and trade.

I don’t have a problem with that. *Blade II* knows what it wants to be and delivers on it. If you want to be amazed by the gory spectacle, wowed by the buckets of bullets and slickly-edited vampiric destruction, you’ve cued up the right movie. If you want to just hang out in this world, of hip hop-backed slaughter sessions and gothic tech gone wild amid counter culture raves, you’re in the right spot. If you’re asking for story or character or all those little things that make a film feel human, well, that’s been largely drained out of this one like a casual vampire snack. But if you’re here for the action, here for the spectacle, and here for the vibes, the daywalker’s got you covered.

_Blade II_ is an exciting, action-packed thriller that exceeds its predecessor in every way. In this new chapter of the series Blade must team up with an elite group of vampires in order to hunt down a new mutated vampire bread, called “Reapers,” that threatens to exterminate both the vampire and human populations. Wesley Snipes and Kris Kristofferson return, and are joined by Ron Perlman and Leonor Varela. Director Guillermo del Toro brings a bold new vision to the series that makes it much more dramatic and powerful. Additionally, the special effects and fight choreograph has improved; making for a more kinetic and involving film. _Blade II_ is an impressively strong sequel that elevates the series and provides a thrilling adventure.

Rewatched it with a loved one who always wanted to see it and it’s still an endlessly fun and cool time. Nobody can be Blade like Snipes can

Just as good as the first. Snipes being the coolest motherfucker on the planet. Action unabashedly playing to his martial arts passion. Perlman being Perlman. And Del Toro nailing the monster design. The mouths are so gnarly, and the autopsy scene is just top notch. I’m so curious how Trinity could possibly fuck up such a simple and winning formula these first two movies have.

Hello again, packmates and lone rangers! Kiba Snowpaw here, your furry guide from the icy world of HowlStrom. Today, let’s dig our claws into a sequel that's as thrilling as a moonlit chase - "Blade II" from 2002. Get ready, 'cause this one's a wild ride!

## Basic Plot Summary
"Blade II" takes us back into the dark and dangerous world of Blade, our favorite half-vampire, half-human hero. This time, there’s a new threat: a super breed of vampires called Reapers, who are preying on vampires and humans alike. It’s like finding a predator in HowlStrom that’s scarier than you are! Blade has to team up with the vampire council to take down this new menace. Talk about uneasy alliances!

## Analysis/Evaluation
This sequel amps up everything from the first movie. It’s got more action, more vampires, and even gnarlier fight scenes. The plot is like a twisting, turning path through a dense forest - you never know what’s lurking around the next tree.

## Characters
Wesley Snipes returns as Blade, and he’s cooler and tougher than ever, like an alpha wolf with new tricks. Then there’s the new pack - err, team - of vampires Blade reluctantly works with. They’re a motley crew, but each brings their own fangs to the fight. And the Reapers? They’re terrifying, like a nightmare you can’t wake up from.

## Structure
The movie's structured like a perfectly planned hunt. It leads you in slowly, then suddenly, you’re in the thick of the action, and it doesn’t let up until the very end. The fight scenes are choreographed like a dance - if the dance was about kicking vampire butt.

## Impact
"Blade II" took the vampire genre and turned it up to eleven. It’s not just a sequel; it’s a whole new beast. Like the first snowfall of winter in HowlStrom, it’s fresh, exciting, and leaves you wanting more.

## Hook and Thesis
The hook here is the combination of horror, action, and a dark, gritty atmosphere. It’s a world where the line between hero and monster is as thin as ice on a spring day. Blade is the perfect anti-hero - he’s got a cause, but he’s not here to play nice.

## Praise and Critique
Big praise for the action sequences - they’re some of the best in the genre. The critique? Maybe the plot gets a bit tangled in its own web at times, but in the heat of the action, you barely notice.

## Evaluation
For fans of the first film, action junkies, or anyone who loves a good vampire story with a twist, "Blade II" is a must-watch. It’s like a full moon night in HowlStrom - dark, exciting, and full of surprises.

## Comparison
Compared to other vampire films, "Blade II" stands out like a lone wolf on a hill. It’s edgier and more action-packed than most, kind of like the difference between a stealthy hunt and a full-on brawl.

## Conclusion
In the end, "Blade II" is a sequel that doesn’t just follow in the footsteps of its predecessor; it makes its own tracks. It’s a testament to how a sequel can sometimes surpass the original, like a young wolf growing to lead the pack.

That's the word from Kiba Snowpaw. Until next time, keep your fur thick and your fangs sharp. And remember, even a wolf from HowlStrom can enjoy a good vampire fight on screen! 🐺🌕✨:vampire:♂:knife: