March 27, 2002 – Vampires are of an abiding interest to a remarkable number of folk, if the 693,000 listings in the Google search engine are any indication. So, the movie "Blade II" will undoubtedly have an audience.
But don't expect "Blade II" to receive a Bram Stoker award. In fact, from most reviews, poor old Stoker is probably consulting with Count Dracula in the outer climes and wondering what they have wrought. Vampires have gone downhill.
In this latest venture, Wesley Snipes, who played the original Blade in the 1998 film, is reincarnated as Blade II. This time, he jumps from the pages of Marvel Comics to encounter a nation under siege.
Alas, there is a new breed of vampires named Reapers who are really bad guys, much worse than your run-of-the-mill bloodsucker. They attack both humans and other vampires. Blade is both human and vampire, so there you go. Double trouble here. He must, according to Yahoo's review, "save the human race from a blood-drenched Armageddon."
That would be a pretty tall order even for President Bush. But Bush isn't Blade, and some might say more's the pity, but this is Hollywood, not politics. It's reassuring to believe there is a difference.
Roger Ebert liked the movie. He wrote in the Chicago Sun times, "'Blade II' is really a rather brilliant vomitorium of viscera. There are shots here that make your average autopsy look like a slow afternoon at Supercuts."
Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman, Luke Goss and Leonor Varela accompany Snipes under the direction of young Mexican director Guillermo del Toro. The movie is two hours long, so bring something suitable to throw up in.
The film is rated R. It starts Thursday at Diamond Cinemas.
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