This movie, BLADE, is a Godz send for several reasons. 1) It's packed with plenty of gore, action, violence, and vampire myth to keep a good number of horror fans happy. 2) BLADE ends the slump that comicbook based movies have been stuck in over the recent years, such as BATMAN AND ROBIN, MYSTERY MEN, and that atrocious, never released in the United States FANTASTIC FOUR movie that Roger Corman made. And, 3) It's just so damn cool! BLADE is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name and stars Wesley Snipes (his best role since that of Simon Phoenix in DEMOLITION MAN) as said title character: a half human, half vampire, all bad ass anti-hero who's made it his personal crusade to stake every fanged bad guy he comes across in an attempt to avenge his human side and his dead mother. In fact, our opening scene shows us just what happened as we flashback to 1967, when Blade's mom is bitten by a vamp, then gives birth to him before reaching her expiration date. Our opening credits then role, overlapped on some bitchin' time lapse shots of what appears to be the rotten apple, New York City. From here, we follow a young couple as they attend a nice little rave, complete with sprinkler systems that spout blood... guess that since blood IS thicker than water it only makes sense to use it for anti-pyro devices... Anyway, the party turns into a fang fest, as many of the attendees prepare to turn their guests into Nosferatu Chow! But, their dinner orgy is interrupted, when in walks our hero, Blade! After some fancy gun slinging and SHAFT style ass kicking, Blade turns the bloodthirsty motherfuckers into ash, then escapes into the night, leaving the fuzz to wonder what the Hell happened while they were eating donuts and beating poor people. Later that night, our hero shows up at the city morgue to finish off one of the neck biters he toasted, but fails, and instead must settle for "kidnapping" a doctor babe that the guy bit before making his own escape. The doctor babe is Dr. Karen Jensen, who plays the cinematic constant: the hero's potential love interest... and I can see why, heh heh. He takes her back to his place (nice to see a hero who knows what he wants), which is more like Blade's own personal Bat Cave, concealed in a common auto garage. We also meet his personal handyman and aged sidekick Abe Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) and the duo injects the good doctor with a garlic liquid in an attempt to stop the vampirism before it takes full hold. Elsewhere, a vampire council headed by the Elder vampire Dragonetti (cult icon Udo Kier, who knows how to play a vamp from his days on BLOOD FOR DRACULA) chastises the rash young vampire with delusions of grandeur, Deacon Frost (a fairly well cast Stephen Dorff). While the council wants vampires to integrate themselves into the rest of humanity and live peacefully amongst their non-dead brethren, Frost thinks it'd be a better idea to just take over the world and leave the humans to serve as a living buffet! However, the council has been spending a lot of effort on buying politicians and cops in an attempt to ease their fellow bloodsuckers into society, too many resources to just throw it all away. Back at Camp Blade, Blade reveals to the good (in bed) doctor about how he's a hybrid of vampire and human, and how he can resist the blood hunger of his vampire side by consuming a pseudo-blood, not unlike that found in SUNDOWN. Also, he's what's known in vampire legend as "the Daywalker": a man who possesses all the strengths of vampires, but none of the weaknesses. For instance, though he has enhanced strength and agility, he is not affected by silver, garlic, or ultra-violet radiation, meaning the sun is useless against him, hence the term, "Daywalker". As for crosses, well, they don't work against fully vampires anyway, so they don't bother Blade either. Take that you stupid Christians! Think you have the answers to all the evil in the world, when you're usually just the cause... Blade's choice of weapons against the baddies? Hollow tipped silver bullets filled with garlic to the head or chest (effective, as well as messy) and as the weapon from which he got his name's sake, hid tintanium blade! Blade uses Dr. J(ensen) as bait for the vamps, who seem to want her back REALLY bad for some odd reason. To find out just what's going on, Blade makes a stop to see the big fat slug-like vampire named Pearl, who's basically Frost's book keeper. After using a UV lamp to play 20 questions with him/her/it, Blade learns that Frost is trying to bring together an ancient vampire ritual which will summon La Magra: a really strong, really old vampire God. Blade's in trouble though, because he gets into a one-sided tussle with a mob of kung-fu vamps who work for Frost. Then, just when it looks like the hero is about to bite (BAD pun) it in the third reel, Whistler comes to his salvation and pops a few caps in their fanged asses (that's an odd thought), notified courtesy of a 2 way radio in Blade's ear! Speaking of Frost, he and his fellow punk ass bloodsuckers kidnap Dragonetti, killing him when they expose him to some direct sunlight, allowing for Frost to take over the council! Ooooh, the political intrigue of the vampire world! As for Dr. J, she's not so lucky, as that garlic antidote didn't work, leaving her to transform into a vampire. Then, thanx to the miracle of sun block, Frost is able to confront our "daywalker" friend Blade in Central Park, distracting him long enough for his toothy pals to find and raid Blade's secret hidey-hole! By the time Blade realizes this, Karen's gone and his long time amigo/mentor Whistler is left with a newly ventilated trachea, who then forces Blade to kill him so he won't be able to come back as a vampire. Blade, with no other choice and nothing good on TV, now goes to stop Frost once and for all. This is good for Frost though, because the last ingredient he needs for his ritual is the blood of "the Daywalker"! Too bad for Eric (Blade's real name) though, because Frost has Blade's mom, who's been turned into his own personal undead fuck kitten! If you haven't picked up on it yet, this is all due to Frost being the vamp who bit her those 30 years ago, making Frost Blade's stepfather or something. The startling revelation leaves the good guy shocked and vulnerable, allowing for Frost's men to capture him and take him to their temple as an intended sacrifice for the Blood God's wrath! But, leave it to Blade's girlfriend to pick up the slack, as she cuts Blade free, then gives up some of her own blood (in a scene that borders on softcore porn) so he might get the second chance to destroy evil! Now, fully recharged, Blade proceeds to stake his own mother while Frost BECOMES La Magra! After the 5th or 6th "Blade kicks the shit out of a cadre of third rate vampire henchmen" scene, he can finally get into his final deciding sword battle with the vile Frost! But, how do you kill someone who can regenerate much faster than you can cleave him? Answer: pump him full o' Dr. J's "blow 'em up real good" anti-vampire chemical, then make your way to the happy ending, exit stage left! So, with Frost defeated, Karen offers Blade the anti-vampire antidote she created (which she used on herself I add) which he refuses, making headway for a sequel before he heads off to Russia to start shit with a Ruskie bloodsucker in our final scene. Not only did this excellent film contain plenty of action and blood for your American dollars, but it also included some great camera manipulation by our director, Stephen Norrington, though I could've done without some of that CGI, which did get overly unrealistic at times. Besides, if you're a fan boy like me, you can't help but love this flick! One major problem scene in my opinion though, involved Blade chasing a cop (works for the vampires, though not an actual vampire) through public streets and sidewalks, then pulls a big fucking gun on the guy! The cop then escapes, Blade puts away his gun, and... the people on the street go about their lives like nothing happened?! Man, only in NYC...

DVD X-tras: Excellent DVD for an excellent movie here, complete with tons of background features on Blade's origins and his transition from the comicbook page to the silver screen; a "making of" featurette; a great section that delves into the history of vampires, as well as the different sects and political houses; and cast and crew info. Also, there were a few deleted scenes (nothing special) as well as an alternate ending where the final sword fight between Blade and Frost is dropped, opting for La Magra to turn Frost into a 3 story tornado of CGI blood, which Blade still defeats. Then there's some stupid "bright, sunshiny day" happy ending that ends the movie with Wesley Snipes grinning like a twit... I'm sincerely glad they decided to stick with the other ending!

Sequels: coming soon, possibly 2001

If You Liked This Flick, Check Out: SPAWN or THE CROW