Wesley Snipes returns as Blade to fight a vampire as old as time itself with actress Jessica Biel as his co-star.
--Randy
Blade: Trinity (2004)
Directors: David S. Goyer
Producers: David S. Goyer, Lynn Harris, And Wesley Snipes
Writers: David S. Goyer Based On Characters Created By Marv Wolfman And Gene Colon
Features: n/a
Characters:
Blade...Wesley Snipes
Abigail Whistler...Jessica Biel
Abraham Whistler...Kris Kristofferson
Hanibal King...Ryan Reynolds
Danica Talos...Parker Posey
Dracula/Drake...Dominic Purcell
Sommerfield...Natasha Lyonne
Flick...Casey Beddow
Genre: Action/Adventure
Review:
On the internet they say that Wesley Snipes is not happy with "Blade: Trinity." Let that be two of us. I loved the first Blade movie, simply called "Blade." As many may remember it's initial success proved a superhero movie could make money which brought us the X-men and the Spider-Man movies. Unfortunately, it also brought us the Daredevil, Hulk, and Punisher disasters too. Up until "Blade" proved a Marvel Comics' superhero character could be done right, Batman's Warner Communications dominated the silver screen. At the rate the Blade series is going it might be time to welcome back the Batman movies, one of which is being filmed right now. This new Blade movie could be an omen to the resurgence of Marvel Comics' old rival.
To have a successful film about a superhero you must first have a villain that is worthy of him. As I have said so often, a hero is judged by his opponent. Looking at the trailers for "Blade: Trinity" one is lead to believe that the big daddy of all vampires is loose, which is true. The one, the original vampire from which all others originated or so it goes in the trailer. What we get is a mild looking, round faced guy that doesn't emanate much of anything. The new 'Dracula' is called Drake and is played laconically by Dominic Purcell. In his first encounter with Blade it is the new vampire in town that is running. Blade is doing the chasing. The new guy has to create a diversion to get away. This does not build any tension toward a final confrontation.
"Blade: Trinity" starts out in the Syrian desert where some bad vampires resurrect the first vampire ever to walk the earth. Apparently he had gone into self exile because he was disgusted with the then current crop of existing vampire. Upon awakening he doesn't seem to be enamored of the modern day vampire either. Shortly, on the other side of the world Blade gets set up by the same bad vampires. The forces of law-enforcement want him now and they know what he looks like. Then from out of the blue comes an anti-vampire cell to assist Blade though he is not at first thrilled to admit he needs aid.
This Blade movie looks like it was shot on the cheap. At first it starts out looking like the other Blades in quality. Then little chinks start to appear. During a subway sequence the floors look too clean. There should at least be a scrap of paper or a crushed cigarette somewhere on the ground. Then only one piece of graffiti is evident. Taggers don't stop at just one sign. Later the quality of the film stock changes. Now there is a bland blue background to a lot of the scenes.
It would take all day to describe the logic gaps. Let's simply say that the picture becomes one mindless action scene after another. There is no panache to these scenes either. We have already seen them done in the previous two Blade films. Director David S. Goyer is only copying, and badly. Goyer wrote all the Blade films so you think he would certainly write himself the best script. Not so. Perhaps he thought he could 'edit' on the run as he directed the movie.
Ryan Reynolds plays a member of the anti-vampire team that is helping Blade. His character is Hanibal King. In the movie he is not an imposing person. His mouth is more impressive than his stature. He wisecracks his way through the movie. In the Marvel comic book world, Hanibal King was a hard boiled detective who hunted vampires and was a former vampire himself. The 'former' part is the only resemblance there is to the comic book figure.
As for Ryan Reynolds, himself, he gives off gay vibes. I have always thought this in the few other roles he has played. He can't seem to play a role straight. I know in real life Reynolds is engaged to be married to a female, but he radiates a strong homosexual vibration here. Goyer even gives him smartass lines to say like, "I do a lot of older men," as if to let Reynolds know that he 'knows.' One bad guy even calls Reynolds' King character a 'fruitcake.' In a fight he is pretty wimpy with his female sidekick able to put the hurt on more bad guys than him. This display of 'toughness' does not help the movie.
Jessica Biel plays Abigail Whistler, King's sidekick. What King lacks in masculinity Abigail more than makes up for in attitude and fighting skills. The weakness of Biel's character is that she has no 'character.' She just is. Other than explaining to Blade that she is Whistler's illegitimate daughter who was not one of the legitimate daughters killed by the first film's villain, Frost, we know nothing about her. She never asks a thing about her dad or talks about how she wound up on the anti-vampire squad. What we do know is that she likes to put an Ipod in her ears, loaded with her favorite fight songs, as she goes into battle. She also carries a bow with a quiver full of special vampire killing arrows. Since the film has regressed to mindless violence by this time any explanations or character analysis would be superfluous.
There is a shower scene of Jessica Biel cleaning off the blood after her character has finished with some killings. It is not all that revealing. Male fans will have to be satisfied and hope the eventual DVD will have an unrated shower scene. That seems very unlikely though, but the average male will clutch at straws.
Parker Posey who is more unknown for her independent films roles does make the best of one of her few times before the regular public. She imbues her vampire character of Danica Talos with a wildness and flair that outshines the numero uno vampire. I would have preferred her to be the main villain. At least she had a style about her.
Where the second Blade film sunk to a 'B' type picture this film sinks to a 'D.' If you put your brain on 'mindless' you can get through this movie with no damage done. I would give "Blade: Trinity" two stars out of five.
----Randy