Alrighty, here I have 4 reviews of BLADE. 3 "hey it's a pretty damn cool film" types and one "It's a dud". Nope, no Hallenbeck review here, I talked to him about the film last night and he said it was a "real piece of shit", but hey Joe and I disagree all the time, so I'm off to see the film tonight, hopefully it's pretty good, I'm in the mood for a kickass action/vampire flick, and I've been hearing about this one for a looooooong time. We'll see...
Anti-hillbilly here. Being a radio dude, I managed to snag a pass to a sneak preview of "Blade" last night. I'm guessing that these radio screenings went off all over the country, so I'll bet you've gotten a number of reviews. Just like to throw my opinion into the ring - this movie is a dud.
Well, it isn't awful. It has a cool soundtrack, several cool fight scenes, and a few neat stunts. Blade's costume and weapons also rate high on the cool-o-meter. But the dialogue is wooden, the story is cliche as hell, and the special effects are pretty cheesy. No one stands out, not even Kris Kristofferson (who wasn't really given enough to do - his character was WAAAAY underdeveloped). Stephen Dorff could have been an interesting bad guy, but instead he was a standard paint-by-numbers guy with no real motivation except to be mean and rule the world.
Of course there's the obligatory female-in-distress character (and not a very good one). And Wesley, who monotones his lines like he's the frickin terminator. He looks great, but he sleepwalks through the part.
I guess I enjoyed parts of the film in a cheap, Roger-Corman-esque way, but overall this wasn't even close to being a good film. Totally forgettable. Skip it.
now for Dread Pirate Roberts' review...
Hey Harry! The Dread Pirate Roberts here with a quick review of the new Wesley Snipes vampire flick Blade. I was able to score passes from a friend who has a comic book/sci-fi store. As is the Aint it Cool trademark, I'll start with a snapshot of my day and then give you my thoughts on the picture.
The story starts last week during an evening game of hoops when one of my friends mentioned having passes for Blade for Tuesday. Naturally, I said I wanted to go but nothing concrete was set up. So, like the dumbass that I am, I never spoke to anyone involved until today, the day of the screening. I'm swamped at work but manage to find time to call my friend only to find out that all the passes have already been distributed. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I try to hide my disappointment but he sees right through it and says to relax while he tries to work his magic and find a seat. I wait and finally get a call back and he tells me I can get on a pass someone else is only using half of. His next question is "Your wife didn't want to go did she?" Well, as we all know, Buttercup and the DPR always go out together. So once again, I was finding trouble along the path to Blade. I really was beginning to doubt if this movie was going to be worth the trouble. We met my group at the designated time (just in case, you see) and to our delight, there was a last minute dropout and a full pass was ours to be had. Cool, finally something went right. Now on to the movie.
The Actors:
Wesley Snipes was made for this role. I'm not a big fan of his. I liked him in New Jack City. I liked him in White Men Can't Jump. I liked him in Major League (and respected him for being the smart one from the original cast to turn down Major League 2). Since then I find myself watching him and thinking of a statue come to life. He looks good but he's a little stiff. Well, superheroes are supposed to be a little stiff. He fits the role like a glove. Even the subtle octave drop and growl in his voice seemed right. Plus, he's built to kick ass and he kicks plenty of it in this movie.
Stephen Dorff is also dead on as Deacon Frost. He plays scumbag perfectly. He's cocky, dangerous, handsome in an I-could-use-a-good-meal kind of way, and his eyes radiate intelligence. In the '90's Tim Burtonized superhero moviescape, Stephen Dorff is the head of a vampire race. It used to be Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi, or even Gary Oldman personified vampires. They were suave ladykillers and jetsetting noblemen who also happened to suck blood. Stephen Dorff's Deacon Frost is heroin chic on its way to a rave. Perfect 90's style vampire. And in a nice touch, they address in this movie the evolution from the old-style vampire/gentleman to the new out-for-blood generation.
Kris Kristofferson's character (Whistler) is hugely underwritten. I understand he's a sidekick but his scenes seem rushed and cobbled. Perhaps the powers that be felt a 2hr vampire flick was O.K. but anything more in order to show character development was too much. It could have been a nice teacher student relationship between Blade and Whistler but it ends up feeling just like the previews said: "he makes the weapons. I use them."
The rest of the cast is o.k. No real standouts among them. Blade's love interest (can't remember her name) got annoying at times but she was really a minor part so it didn't take away from the movie too much.
The Plot:
Now I won't ruin it by telling the plot to you but suffice it to say, not a ton of the budget was spent on rewrites. The plot is passable "we want to rule the earth" stuff but really the story is just there to get from one action set-up to the next.
The Music:
On a previous review on the site, someone said that the music was good but not great. Well, it certainly isn't something I'd buy normally (not my style) but in the context of the vampire underworld, I thought it fit brilliantly.
The Effects:
Not too shabby at all. A couple of things looked as cheesy as John Leguizamo's make-up in Spawn but most of it was very nice. My favorite is how the vampires' bodies disintegrate after being 'killed'.
The Editing:
Mostly it was very good. Some of it was too quick-cut, though. The first action scene was cut very nicely but the finale was too fast. I know they were trying to give the impression of super vampire speed but it was hard to follow and looked very fake.
The Action:
Superb!!! The first appearance of Blade is a minor masterpiece of blood and weapons and throughout, the fights are fast-paced and furious (not withstanding the too fast finale which still had some fine swordplay) and the amount of action is just right to offset the lack of a solid storyline. One note: the subway scene is cool and frantic (in a good way) but how did Whistler get out? I don't remember them ever showing.
The Gripe:
Does every action picture now have to end with a sequel being as obvious as the next sunrise. Can't they just make one great movie beginning to end and then use their brains (the gray mass inside the skull) to come up with an inventive premise for a sequel if it's warranted. This seemed like if I sat there long enough, the movie would just continue into the sequel. You know what that means. Yep, more of the exact same for the sequel. No cool plot twist to make it fresh just Billing killing more vampires. This picture is even more blatant than Godzilla (hard to believe). It should have been followed by an announcement: "If this movie makes over $75 million, look for Blade 2: Sharper Than Ever at theaters in the year 2000". Give the audience some credit and don't start telling them about the sequel before the original is a hit.
Overall:
A real solid action movie. Good acting. Great casting. Good music. Cool fights. And it moved right along. It didn't try to pretend to have a great plot so it had no misconceptions about what it was and it kept the action coming. If you're ready to shut off the thinker for a while and feel like a manly man's killfest, this is you're ticket.
7.5 out of 10 (lost half a point due to setting up sequel)
Sorry this got so long winded. Hope it's cool enough. I'm off to the pirate ship Revenge. The Dread Pirate Roberts out.
And now for the review from the Evil Ryu...
I'm a long time reader of your site, but haven't had any info to share until now. I just got back from a sneak preview of Blade, and I am amazed at how much I actually liked it. I wanted to see it, but I thought it was going to be another letdown like Spawn was last year. In my opinion, this was the type of movie that spawn should have been.
A movie hasn't given me such an adrenalin rush since "The Rock." I think the appeal for me was the energy in the movie and partly because of the mood I was in at the time. For me, I could relate to Blade's anger and how he felt, and how he would just totally beat the hell out of anyone in his way. I think there is a part of all of us that would like to feel like a superhero and just kick ass from time to time. It was like how you felt when you watch Enter the Dragon for the first time and you see the essence of cool that Bruce Lee had. You just know he's going to win, but you want to see how he does it. The crowd really loved it and broke out ito applause and cheers several times.
I am a martial artist myself, and even though the fast editing left some of the moves unseen, it still had the energy of a hong kong flick. The ending sequence reminded me of Jet Li's "My Father is a Hero" for some reason. It was just cool. You can't go into a movie like this expecting it to be Saving Private Ryan. If you enjoy action, martial arts, horror, or just cool movies, go see it. The effects were great, it's a cool premise, and if you're like me, you'll want to walk around carrying a sword and wearing sunglasses when you leave. I can't wait to see it again.
I came across this screening completely by chance and probobly won't have any more info, but you can call me Evil Ryu.
And now for Diomedes....
I just got back from a preview of Blade (8/18). This movie rocks, it's not perfect, but it's got a great graphic novel/comic book feel. I loved the whole tone and feel of the movie. IMHO the action scenes are excellent. The camera work and the lighting are great and I liked the editing. When you think of it in terms of the media it is translated from the quick cuts don't seem to distract you as much as add to the comic book aura. The same with the F/X. When I think back to the movie I can picture the the scenes in my head panel by panel, ink to paper...cool. Wesley Snipes also has one of the coolest picture cars I've seen in a while. Early 70s Mopar, awesome. I hope that doesn't spoil to much.
I only had two real problems with the movie. At one point half way through the movie I caught my self looking at my watch, but no yawns. The pace isn't to far out of balance. Also the audio didn't seem to be as dynamic as it could have been. In the opening sequence, for instance, as the intensity climbed my ears weren't stimulated to the same degree my eyes were. Maybe the theater didn't have the volume turned up enough but it caused the movie to lack some of the oomph it might have had.
I was also excited about the trailers. There were only two. The first was for Rush Hour. I love Jackie Chan. Why haven't I seen more on this movie on the net. The second was for Soldier. This trailer made me want to see this movie NOW!
Call me Diomedes
