Rating: 8.5/10
Review date: April 29, 2002
The first Blade doesn�t impress me much when I saw it a couple of years ago. I really dug into all the cool action sequences but I find the story too weak and the ending rather stupid so I watched Blade II with little expectation in my head that the movie will be good.
To my surprise, Blade II actually managed to surpass its predecessor by retaining the original stylish and cool action fighting scenes with Wesley Snipes at the helm again. Blade returns this time with the same old costume which make him look so good in the first place and that�s always a good thing in action movies. All of the action scenes are very well done and the death animations of the vampires are visually better this time.
The soundtrack is very fitting throughout the movie and you will find yourself drawn into the movie both audibly and visually.
Enough said about the action for now, time to move on to the other aspects of the movie. Blade II also features a stronger storyline this time around as well as a more believable and more bad-ass looking enemy played by Luke Goss as Nomak compared to Stephen Dorff as Deacon Frost in the first Blade.
The vampires are back again to ask for Blade�s help in getting rid of the new �uber-vampires� (led by Nomak) who are killing the lesser ones. Sounds over simplified? Yes, definitely since it�s an action movie but at least the slight twist near the end will compensate for it.
The atmosphere is also excellently crafted here where most of the movie took place at night time (vampires can�t stand sunlight remember?). From the dark and musty sewers to the alleyways and the discotheques, the audience would be constantly being presented with dark environments which suit the overall impression really well.
I highly recommend Blade II for anyone who is a fan of the original Blade or Wesley Snipes as well general fans of action movies since it manage to improve from its rather plain predecessor. This movie however, is not recommended for anyone who is rather squeamish about disgusting scenes since Blade II contains several of these (especially during the autopsy scene).
Memorable quote: �Keep your friends close� keep your enemies closer��
-Wesley Snipes as Blade-
(c) 2002 Martin Taidy