I only got to see this one a month ago for the first time, i know that's pretty late but wow i sure don't regret!
Second installments are always shaky business, especially when they're derived from a comic book adaptation. They can either "make" or "break" a franchise. With sequels, you have to be able to give your audience a fresh new story, while at the same time remain loyal to the original's idea.
Wesley Snipes returns as the daywalker, Blade, in Blade II, a sequel that unlike most in it's genre, has a heart, mind and body all it's own. There's a real feel that the people who worked on this film really wanted to tie everything together with the previous film. Fans wondering why they've seen Kris Kristofferson's Whistler in the sequel previews, even though he supposedly died in the first film, will be happilly surprised at the explanation. You will even understand why Blade went to Moscow at the end of Part 1. Unfortunately, the only slipup is the disappearance of the character of Karen, played by N'Bushe Wright, who was present at the end of the first film, but is not even mentioned here in the second.
Part 2 begins in Prague, with Blade searching for the location of Whistler, who has been turned into a Vampire and subsuquently tortured. The action sequences are even more elaborate than the first, with the camera actually following jumps and flips in a spiral fashion. By now most of you know the story, which involves a new breed of vampire called Reapors, that are trying to take over their predecessors and eventually enslave the world. The vampires turn to Blade for assistance in helping them wipe out these vicious beasts. In a sort of "Dirty Dozen" meets "Aliens" tradition, Blade teams up with an elite group of vampires, who, turns out, were originally put together to hunt him down. They instead work together to seek out the Reapors to destroy them, but find that killing them is not as easy as they'd hoped.
The film gives Wesley Snipes more range to show some drama this time, with a subplot involving a female vampire named Nyssa, who's a pure blood, working for her father. Twists and turns abound in this comic book action thriller that gives off a nice feel of energy while at the same time making sense. There's plenty martial arts action to make anybody happy, as well some much needed dry humor from Snipes and company. All an all a satisfying experience that will leave most moviegoers in an upbeat fashion.
I'd give it a very ripe 4/5 rating |