Blade 2 film review

certificate_18

BLADE 2

Blade II begins where the original left off, in Moscow. Wesley Snipes's titular vampire hunter learns that his mentor Whistler, who was presumed dead at the end of the first film, is in fact being held hostage by vampires in Prague. Blade rescues his good friend (staking a few motorcycle-screeching bloodsuckers into the bargain), only to learn that the nightcrawlers are the least of his worries.

A mutation in the vampire virus has created a rare hybrid known as The Reapers, which are wreaking havoc on the bloodsucking population, attacking humans as well as their own kind to satiate their bloodlust. Unlike normal vampires, there is no erotic exchange with The Reapers - they are like giant leeches, and exist solely to feed on their prey, and pass on the virus to create thousands of new carriers. Unfortunately, human numbers are dwindling fast, so vampire overlord Damaskinos reluctantly asks Blade and Whistler to join forces with an elite team of vampires known as The Bloodpack to defeat the Reaper threat.

Blade and his mentor are uneasy about aligning themselves with their former enemy, but it seems to be the only way to defeat The Reapers. The Bloodpack is equally unhappy about this new union between vampires and Blade. Indeed, the group's leader, Reinhardt, makes it quite clear that he will kill our eponymous hero, given half a chance. The trail of bodies and bloodshed leads back to Patient Zero, Jared Nomak, who must be exterminated to prevent The Reapers taking over the entire world.

Blade brings along brilliant young inventor Scud to give him the technological edge, but it quickly transpires that the Bloodpack will need much more than state-of-the-art weaponry to wipe out the thousands of Reapers swarming beneath the city streets.

Director Guillermo del Toro is well versed in the horror movie canon.. His sense of style is impeccable, making each skirmish between Blade and The Reapers larger than life, feeding into the comic book aesthetic.

Snipes looks cooler than cool, clad in black leather and sunglasses as he somersaults and punches his way out of danger. There's little emotional content to the performance, but he copes admirably with the physical demands, completing many of his own stunts.

Make-up and special effects are stomach-churning in detail, and The Reaper designs are also impressive, with jaws fanning out to reveal a hidden, barbed sucker that latches onto unsuspecting victims.