There Are Times When the Third Time is Not Charming

Even though I am a Marvel Comic Books fan, I have to admit that my Marvel universe is pretty small, populated by mainstay the hero’s Xmen, Spiderman, Wolverine, Ironman and Thor. There wasn’t room in my closet for much more, so it comes as no surprise to me that I had never heard of Blade, the half-man, half-vampire Vampire hunter, with the seriously cool weapons.

The first Blade staring Wesley Snipes (Murder at 1600, The Art of War, Undisputed) was a blast to watch; the storyline was tightly written, the action was fast moving, and expertly choreographed, and Snipes was outstanding in the role. The second Blade was not as enjoyable; sure the action was there in spades, and Snipes was still terrific in the role, but the story was a little loose, a little less believable if that sounds plausible. Now here comes Blade: Trinity, the third and perhaps (or perhaps not) final chapter in the Blade saga.

Story-Line

Snipes is back as Blade and this time he has a little help from his friends. It seems the vampire community has gotten hip to Blade and is out to frame him for killing a human. They succeed, and in the process Blade’s long time mentor Whistler—portrayed by Kris Kristofferson—who I could have sworn died in the second movie, is killed when the FBI comes calling. Blade is taken into custody, after dispatching a respectful number of agents of course, and it looks as though our hero is finally going to become Vamp stew when lo-and-behold, he is rescued.

Rescued by whom you ask? Why by members of the Night-Stalkers, a sort of Generation-X breed of vampire slayers; more specifically Jessica Biel (Summer Catch, The Rules of Attraction, Cellular) portraying Abigail Whistler, and Ryan Reynolds (The In-Laws, The Amityville Horror) portraying Hannibal King, an ex-vampire turn human again by Abigail. Why she would choose to turn him, as apposed to dispatching him with glee as she does all other vampires she encounters, was never really explained to my satisfaction. Be that as it may, the two are now a vampire hunting uber-team.

With Whistler dead—for real this time—Blade finds himself alone and in need of the support of the young vampire slayers, and so a reluctant team is formed. The vampires for their part are on a quest to become “day-walkers,” as part of their final solution that would see them taking over the earth and using humans as mere food, kept alive in huge warehouses and milk for their blood like cows. But in order to accomplish this feat, the vamps need to awaken the very first vampire, Dracula and use his “pure” DNA to help them survive the daylight. It seems the real Dracula can inhabit the day; why present day vampires—his descendants—cannot is never really explained; yet another gaping hole in the plot.

But, the Night-Stalkers need some of Dracula’s pure DNA as well in order to complete a new vampire virus that will wipe out the loathsome creature once and for all. So the race is on, as is the violence propelled as it is by a thin plotline.

My Impressions

While the original Blade was a solid movie propped up by a well written plot, Blade: Trinitysuffers from a lack of imagination and enough plot holes to as to be mistaken for a sandwich favor. How, for instance did some street vendor know who Whistler was and in turn tip off the FBI? And how did Dracula learn the whereabouts of the Nightstalkers hideout, and how did Summerfield portrayed by Natasha Lyonne (American Pie 2, Kate & Leopold) have time to record a very lengthy message to another Night-Stalker cell before she was hung up and bled by Dracula? Details, details, details, the devil and a tightly written plot and submerged in the details, and Blade: Trinity was woefully lacking them and it made the movie between the excellent fight scenes hard to get through.

Snipes did his thing as Blade as admirably as in the other movies, but did a little too much glaring for my taste; lighten up already. The rest of the cast was admirable as well, though some of the dialog was a bit trite and melodramatic; it was as if the writers were trying to hard to make me feel for the characters by floating occasional line to make them seem human, rather then developing them and giving them a bit of genuine emotional depth.

The fight sequences were spectacular, as always, and plenty of bad guys fall before the various weapons of the good guys. It helps of course the Snipes is an accomplished martial arts master, it tends to lend a bit of realism to this dances of death, and a fair amount of special effects wizardry helps as well.

All-n-all, Blade: Trinitywas an enjoyable movie, but only marginally so; I do like a viable plot to go along with my senseless violence, thank you very much. The ending of the movie left the door open to yet another Blade movie; we can only hope the Stan Lee himself writes the script for this one. In case you haven’t heard Marvel Comics has announced that it will produce and shoot all future movies based on its comic book heroes…might we soon be seeing Thor hit the big screen?


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older