Blade (3½ Stars)

This film was made in 1998, but I've avoided watching it until now. Not watching a Marvel film for 20 years is a record for me. However, I had my reasons.

In April 1972 a Marvel comic began called "Tomb of Dracula". I felt uneasy about it, because in my eyes Dracula didn't seem to be someone who should be part of the Marvel universe. I can't explain it logically. It just felt wrong. I never read any of the comics until issue #44, which was a crossover story that continued in Doctor Strange #14. When the Blade film was released in 1998 and advertised as a Marvel film my reaction was bewilderment, because I'd never heard of him. I asked an employee at my local comic shop about him -- in those days the Internet existed, but there wasn't as much information available online as today -- and I was told he'd been a supporting character in "Tomb of Dracula". So that was where he came from!

It was primarily the connection with Dracula that put me off, but I also didn't like the trailers in which I saw him fighting vampires with guns.

Now I've finally grown weak and I've bought the Blade trilogy on Blu-ray. I'll be watching the films over the next few weeks. Probably not back to back, because there are other films I urgently want to watch. So many films, so little time.

Never having read about Blade in the comics I can't compare the film with the source material. That's a good thing. I'm usually critical of the smallest deviations from the comics, and many of the deviations are enormous. Just look at "Doctor Strange", which managed to turn the Ancient One from an Asian man into a white woman. That's white-washing and gender-washing in one. At least he was killed at the end of the film, so we don't have to worry about him any more.

In the vampire mythology of "Blade" there are two types of vampires: pure-bloods who were born as vampires, and half-bloods who were turned from humans into vampires. That's an interesting idea, but highly unorthodox. A half-blood vampire called Deacon Frost rebels against the ruling council of pure-blood vampires. He wants to carry out a secret ritual to become a Blood God, La Magra, who has great powers, including the ability to walk in the daylight.

There's a rare third type of vampire, to which Blade belongs. His mother was turned into a vampire when she was pregnant, only a few hours before his birth. He was born as a vampire able to walk in the daylight, with the full strength of vampires but no immortality. He suffers from bloodlust, but he uses a serum which keeps it under control.

Blade battles Deacon Frost and his minions with the assistance of Dr. Karen Jenson, a haematologist, played by the actress N'Bushe Wright. She's a capable actress, based on the evidence of this film, but I've never seen her before. According to the information on Wikipedia this was her biggest role.

"Blade" was a big box office success, but I don't think this was deserved. It has all the characteristics of a cheap direct-to-video film. The martial arts battles are poorly choreographed and unconvincing. The special effects are poor, even for the 1990's. Wesley Snipes' acting is wooden. It's an interesting story, but the film could have been made a lot better. I hope the other two films in the trilogy are better.

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