Blade (1998)


REVIEWER RATING: 
8/10


Blade is a film I've wanted to revisit for several years now, especially after being somewhat disappointed with the previous efforts. I was lucky enough to catch it in the theaters growing up and it really blew my mind. I had no idea who this Blade character was, but one thing was sure right from the start and that he was a badass vampire hunter and someone you definitely didn't want to fuck with. Despite being 13 years after its release, it still holds up as being an overall great flick. Sure the special effects aren't the greatest by today's standards, but everything else -- from the action to the vampires -- just oozes awesomeness.

Opening in an underground vampire nightclub (where blood sprays down from the sprinklers on the ceiling) Blade steps foot on the "dance floor" and an unnerving silence overcomes the blood suckers, and only a couple faint whispers of "it's him, it's the chosen one" can be heard. From that moment on, the hunter lays waste to dozens of vampires and sets the pace for what some (such as myself) consider to be one of the best and most entertaining vampire films to come out of the genre.

Blade proved that good comic-to-film adaptations could still exist and that some filmmakers aren't afraid to bring forth a dark, violent and ballsy feature to the big screen. Although the sequels luckily kept their R-ratings, they weren't as dark or had as much of an impact like the first did (at least for me anyway). Wesley Snipes really made the Blade character come to life, especially with his martial arts background, which helped the action and movements flow better for certain scenes. Stephen Dorff as "Frost" was a great villain and Kris Kristofferson as Blade's partner/weapons-maker "Whistler" was a cool veteran hunter that didn't get as much screen time as he should have.

In this day and age where we've seen a huge resurge of vampire films, it's no wonder that there's talks of potentially delving back into the Blade universe and possibly bringing forth another film. I welcome another installment as long as they go back to the darker roots of the original, and of course, have Wesley return as the vampire hunter.

Blade is a great film that (aside from some of the CG effects) still holds up to this day as being a badass and memorable vampire flick and is one of my personal favs from the particular sub-genre.  It has it all -- awesome characters, lots of blood, good action, and even a decent amount of comedy at times. If you haven't seen this by now then *SLAP*. Otherwise, if you've already seen it then do yourself a favor and revisit it like I did.

OVERALL: 
Blade is a great film that (aside from some of the CG effects) still holds up to this day as being a badass and memorable vampire flick and is one of my personal favs from the particular sub-genre. It has it all -- awesome characters, lots of blood, good action, and even a decent amount of comedy at times. If you haven't seen this by now then *SLAP*. Otherwise, if you've already seen it then do yourself a favor and revisit it like I did.


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