A Review by Phil Calabro
2004, New Line Cinema, Dir. David Goyer - Starring Wesley Snipes, Jessica Biel, Ryan Reynolds, Parker Posey, Kris Kristofferson, Triple H, Dominic Purcell, Mark Berry, John Michael Higgins, Callum Keith Rennie, Paul Anthony, Françoise Yip
I've never been a fan of the Blade saga, mostly because the concept of letting a silent vigilante save the day for all comes across rather unoriginal - and even a good actor like Wesley Snipes can't pull together those kinds of movies. So here comes the (hopefully final) third volume of the series, 'Blade: Trinity'. In order to rid the audience of the conception I just provided, director David Goyer pulled in two supporting characters in order to lighten up Blade's load, as well as provide a whole new look about our sunglasses-donning hero. Now normally I would've just rewritten the review to Resident Evil 2, but there's a bit of originality in this venue. At least some worthwhile comic relief was provided, but it's outweighted by the excessive tedium periodically placed between the action scenes - which, by the way, are nothing but five-minute intervals of kicking and disintegrating vampires. No wild kicks, no fancy weapons. It's an action film that has no idea why it's being made.
Blade (Snipes) has been set up by the vampire clan, made up of Talos (Posey) and Grimwood (Triple H) as its leaders. After mistakenly killing a human, Blade is now a wanted man by the feds, and he's hiding out for his life under the watch of Whistler (Kristofferson). But when the officials raid their shack, Whistler is killed in a tragic explosion, and Blade is under custody. He soon finds out that the officials are all vampires and that the entire thing has been a hoax. But two young cavaliers named Abigail (Biel), who is also Whistler's illegitimate daughter, and former vampire Hannibal King (Reynolds). They are part of a group known as the Nightstalkers, who are a group of mortals set out for the destruction of vampires, as well as working on a serum to wipe out the entire vampire race. Meanwhile, the vampire king Dracula, or quaintly called Drake this time around, (Purcell) has awoken and is need of getting as much human blood as possible. But the Nightstalkers find use in Drake - he is the first true vampire, so if they get a sample of his blood, they could wipe off vampires for good.
Wesley Snipes seems to be making a conscious effort to keep the Blade character in prime bad-ass form, but he is constantly upstaged by his supporting characters. He hardly talks throughout the movie, saying half-sentences at the most. But what is Blade's ultimate purpose? To kill vampires - and that's exactly what he does. He seems a bit distanced from the rest of the cast, almost as if he was a sideshow this time. Ryan Reynolds is the film's lighter points, providing some often funny moments in a series that is sometimes too solemn for its own good. He's fun to watch as a supporting character, and doesn't present himself as this blatantly obnoxious sidekick, but more as a lighthearted cynic in a serious conversation. Jessica Biel is laughable and unnecessary as Whistler's daughter Abigail - she's not anyone's love interest, not flaunting her body, all she is a tie to Whistler in order to continue the saga. One scene of interest cracked me up - their headquarters has just been raided by Drake, and she finds one of the workers dead on the ground. She starts crying intensely, with a camera angle of the dead body in her arms sobbing - dramatic music and all. Why are there these unnecessary drama scenes? So the audience members who liked the movie can add 'drama' as one of its multifarious genres?
Need I mention the presence of Dracula in the film? This must be the fourth recreation of the great count I've seen this year. Hollywood has been making a festival out of these silly reenactments of Count Vlad this year - but they need to end. It's pathetic to see a legendary character such as Dracula keep getting misplaced in this horror/action films as if he has to be some necessary pawn to end our hero's life. My biggest problem with the film had to be its violence factor. One of the great things that make 'Blade' what it is are its fighting sequences. From this point, it's so skimpy on letting the viewer engage in some ordinary fisticuffs, just letting it all boil up till the end - but by that point, it's so dizzying and uncoordinated for us to even care. What happens at the end? I'll leave that to you, but just don't expect some sort of fantastic finish.
'Blade: Trinity' is a drag to watch and a big backfire from director Goyer. Whereas I couldn't stand the first two volumes because it was too serious, this time its lightheartedness is too forced and gives an uneven product. There isn't a whole lot of action or eye candy, none of the unforgettable presence of Blade, just an old sequel washed up on the wrong beach.
