Review by Ray Garton

BLADE II
2002
DVD - Lots of extras
Directed by: Guillermo Del Toro
Written by: David S. Goyer
Starring:
Wesley Snipes - Blade
Kris Kristofferson - Whistler
Ron Perlman - Reinhardt
Leonor Varela - Nyssa
Luke Goss - Nomack

Guillermo Del Toro is a talented and interesting movie director who, lucky for us, just happens to work in the horror genre. He directed 1993's untraditional vampire story Cronos, '97's creepy big-bug movie Mimic, and last year's dark ghost story The Devil's Backbone. They are all patient, unhurried, atmospheric movies that travel the valleys between reality, dreams, and nightmares. They are not dependent upon digital effects, gore, or loud action, but Del Toro never forgets he's making a horror movie, either -- he knows when to pour on the goo, and when to shift our perspective just enough to show us what we didn't see a moment ago and scare the hell out of us with it. Del Toro uses all elements of the horror genre to tell his stories, and he brings to his movies distinctive horrors that, once latched on, do not let go.

In Blade II, Del Toro takes on the sequel to 1998's successful Marvel Comics adaptation from New Line. In both movies there's more set-up than story, with plenty of emphasis on knife-slinging chop-sockey vampire ass-kicking.

Blade is half-human, half-vampire. His cravings for bloody feedings are supressed thanks to a serum developed for him by Whistler, a vampire hunter who raised him from boyhood. Together, they hunt vampires with silver and garlic, and lots of attitude.

I enjoyed most of Blade the first, but it kind of lost me in the third act, and ... Stephen Dorff was the bad guy? Come on. That's our villain? I'm sorry, but it's just a little hard to get nervous about Stephen Dorff as a vampire. That's like pitting Batman against David Spade. Movies like this can't afford weak villains and Blade suffered.

In Blade II, the vampires Blade hunts come to him for help. Mutant vampires called Reapers are feeding on both humans and their own kind, and the Reapers are multiplying. Their hearts, encased in bone, are protected from stakes. They are insatiable, and they are straight out of the worst moment of a very bad dream. Blade agrees to help the vampires, but in doing so, he risks putting himself at the mercy of the vampires who hate him so much once the Reapers are vanquished.

David Goyer's script is drum-tight, moves fast, and takes a nice turn later on when we learn of the Reapers' origins.

Del Toro does not hesitate to embrace the movie's comic book origins. He knows and respects the form. There is no futile and damaging effort here to ground the story in reality. Blade II looks and sounds like a comic book, it's set in a comic book world. And Snipes knows how to strike a comic book pose — shot after shot of Blade II looks like a panel straight off the page.

But the real treat here is the Reapers. Just when we get wrapped up in all the rapid-fire, hard-hitting action sequences — and they are impressive — one of these guys pops up and opens his mouth and we're reminded that this is also a horror movie. Here is Del Toro's mark on the Blade franchise, the horror that latches on and won't let go, in more ways than one. Like the ancient beetle in Cronos, the intelligent bugs in Mimic, the ghost in the tank in The Devil's Backbone, the Reapers grab hold of their victims and do not let go. And they stick with us, too. I've been unable to get the image of that nightmarish maw out of my head.

As a rule, I don't like sequels. The horror genre has become a dumping ground for movies with numbers after the titles, and all too often, they are sequels to movies that never should have been made in the first place. The prevalence of sequels in horror is symptomatic of a lack of originality and creativity in a genre that should be thriving on both. But in Blade II, Del Toro has created that rarity among movies — the Sequel That's Better Than the First One. It's faster, harder, more solidly grounded in its own world, and it has the support of strong villains — Ron Perlman's hardass vampire Reinhardt, and those horrible, hungry Reapers.

To satisfy their appetite for horror, fans of the genre tend to consume everything that's out there, too often bestowing success on a lot of utter crap. If you haven't seen any of Del Toro's other movies, rent them. In a genre bloated with cynical low-rent knock-offs and sequels perpetrated by people who have no respect for horror, or for their audience (and in so many cases, no talent), Del Toro is the real thing.

[Out of a possible four Bloodshot Eyeballs.]

1/2