Marvel Media Mania: Marvel Anime: Blade

Blade: Anime is a part of the Marvel Anime series by Madhouse. It is one of four series produced where Marvel characters are reimaged with an anime feel (Iron Man, X-Men, and Wolverine are the other three). It was released in Japan in 2010 and internationally in 2011. There were 12 episodes.

Marvel Anime: Blade

The storyline of Blade: Anime is a familiar one: Blade is hunting vampires, the leader of which is Deacon Frost. Deacon Frost killed Blade's mother, causing Blade to be born a Daywalker (Vampire without the weakness to daylight). Blade himself looks very much like the Wesley Snipes movie counterpart.

But the similarities stop there. This series has a very "anime" feel (of course) which means lots and lots of back to back action sequences with very little meaning attached to them. Some of the action is okay but scenes are often so dark or the camera is so busy doing pans and close-ups it is hard to follow exactly what's going on. Sometimes "stop action" sequences almost reminded me of a motion comic which was pretty cool.

The Japanese take on vampires is a very... "loose" interpretation. Certainly fans of traditional vampire lore will be left scratching their heads. For example, in one sequence a vampire transforms into a thing that looks like a werewolf but fights underwater called a "Suikou." Deacon's "sons" are weird humanoid creatures without eyes and a huge gaping maws filled with razor sharp teeth. Vampires have yellow eyes... something that one would think would be a dead giveaway. None of this is ever explained... maybe it would make sense if I was Japanese. Anyway, Frost leads a vampire organization called, "Existence." Vampires don't seem too concerned with being secretive.

I'd say this series definitely goes for style over substance. The style wears thin after about two episodes, however. The fight sequences blur together into one big mental smear. While the art is competent the character designs were pretty much standard-issue anime.

1LR Review - 9 out of 20 - It's a Miss!

Marvel Media Mania: Blade: The Series

Blade: The Series originally aired starting in 2007 on Spike TV. There was only one season of Blade that contained 12 episodes. The previously reviewed Blade: House of Chthon was the two-hour pilot episode for this series. The only way this series is in continuity with the Blade movies is if it happens prior to Blade: Trinity due to the fact that all the vampires die in Blade: Trinity. Stylistically and visually the series is very similar to the movies.

I went into Blade: The Series with low expectations. Honestly, I wasn't even going to watch all twelve episodes - watch the first few, perhaps the last episode, and then review it. But I got hooked. It's surprisingly good! I'm guessing this has a lot to do with Geoff Johns, famed comic book writer, being tapped as the lead creative force behind the show.

The action picks up right from the plotlines of the pilot. A large portion of the series is focused around Krista, who worked with Blade but was turned into a vampire in the pilot. One of the great things about a TV show compared to a movie is that there's all kinds of time to explore the backstories and personalities of the supporting cast. Marcus Van Sciver, Krista, Shen, Chase, and Charlotte are the main characters and their individual stories are woven together. In some ways, it's almost like Blade is a secondary character in his own series. Krista is really the main character as she struggles to maintain her humanity. 

The series breaks some new ground for vampires as well. A vampire rip out his own fang to cut his way free. Krista must undergo a "sweat-lodge" ritual in which she is completely submerged in a pool of blood. Krista turns her own mother to save her from cancer. There's a vampire restaurant where vampires get to pick out their human meal like lobsters in a tank. Vampire ash is used as an ingredient in street drugs, turning users into vampire-want-to-be's called "Ashers" for an hour or two. I particularly liked the parallel that was drawn between returning from war as a veteran and adjusting to vampirism. I also liked the vampire "child" Charlotte and seeing the colonial indian vampires.

There are a few plotlines that get lost along the way. What ever happened to the cop that Krista turned and then was hunting? What about the agent that was learning about vampires? Nothing ever comes of these storylines. 

Then again, at times a very, very minor character shows up out of the blue and we're suppose to remember them from eight episodes earlier. For example, the agent shows up at a lady's house in episode 11 (I think) and we haven't seen her since episode 1! You're left wondering - who is this lady? 

And, of course, we're given plenty of Blade action. We find out that Blade actually ran with a vampire gang called "Bad Blood" as a youth. We get references with Whistler and even see him as a youth and discover how he hurt his knee. 

I think my favorite character may have been Shen, though. He's Blade's assistant and he's got real personality.  At one point, to make a distraction in a casino, he jumps up on the casino table and starts shouting, "I am Godzilla!" The series, although heavy in tone, is littered with little humorous moments or when they play against expectations. Like when Blade goes to confront a doctor who is working with the vampires. He kicks open the door only to see... a room full of pregnant women. Hilarious!

I wish the series had a more satisfying ending, however. You can tell the creators of the show really thought they'd get a second season. The main plotline of the first season wraps up nicely but the last scene is a real teaser. Sigh. I suppose it fits with the old Hollywood mantra, "Leave them wanting more!"

1LR Review - 15 out of 20 - It's a Hit!

Marvel Media Mania: Blade: House of Chthon (Pilot)

As always - Spoiler Alert!

Blade: House of Chthon is a pilot for a Blade TV series which originally aired on Spike TV in 2006. 

To be honest, I went into seeing this expecting it to be bad. The last two Blade films missed the mark with me and the made-for-TV budget for Blade: House of Chthon just seemed like a recipe for campy-ness. The opening sequence didn't do much to prove me wrong. Blade is chasing a Russian vampire around what appears to be the inside of a nuclear power plant... on his motor cycle, of course. What's weird is that the opening scene has almost nothing to do with the rest of the film. Blade asks the vampire, "Where are you taking the bodies?" and the vampire answers, "Detroit," but then we see a cop getting bodies for the vampires in Detroit. So why do they need to ship them all the way from Russia? Either way, we never hear about the Russian angle again...

The first part of the pilot is definitely weak. There's a storyline with a girl, Kirsta, searching for her brother's murderers. You know it will eventually be connected to Blade but it takes awhile until it actually is. So I was surprised when the pilot began catching my attention! I'd say the pilot really picks up when Kirsta meets Blade for the first time. I thought I knew where it was going - Kirsta becomes Blade's vampire hunting partner, but the pilot really gets interesting when Kirsta is turned into a vampire! What an excellent plot twist!

I'm glad to see they took a more "mature" angle on the Blade property - they're not afraid to be violent, bloody, sexy, or rough around the edges. The creators of the show went out of their way to show how vampires have pervaded our pop culture - from Video Games to comic books to movies. Some nice nods to vampire fans. They also threw in one tidbit for die-hard Marvel fans. At one point a "Professor" character mentions he colleague Marc Spector who specializes in werewolves. This is obviously a reference to Moon Knight (who's secret identity is Marc Spector although in the comics continuity he has very little to do with werewolves). 

The creators take their own liberties with the vampire myth, making it their own. First, I loved the flashbacks to native american vampires during the colonial times. Very cool. The creators seem to have taken the "cursed" spiritual aspect out of vampirism and made it more scientific. In this version, vampires are affected by sunlight, garlic, and silver but not by crosses and holy water. A major plot point is the vampires trying to overcome their weaknesses through scientific testing. There also appears to be different levels of vampires - a more "primal" vampire and more "civilized" vampires. I liked the idea of a "vampire farm" with thousands of vampire bodies in cold storage, all slowly being drained of their blood!

The main cast is great. "Sticky Fingaz" (AKA Kirk Jones) does a good job as Blade. The rest of the main cast does a pretty good job. They certainly cast people that look the rolls they're playing. The actors playing Kirsta, Chase, and Vam Sciver (the main bad guy) all do great jobs. The problem I ran into was when you get into some of the supporting cast. Even Pinocchio didn't act as woodenly as some of these folks!

All in all, Blade: House of Chthon (which I would have pronouned "Ch-Th-On" but is actually pronounced "Kith-On") is a good hook into the series. 

1LR Rating - 15 out of 20 - It's a Hit!

Marvel Media Mania: Blade Trinity

Blade Trinity is the third and final film in the Blade series starring Wesley Snipes.

I remember seeing Blade Trinity in the theaters. I remember being really disappointed and not liking it very much. Watching it again, I found myself wondering why I had such a strong negative reaction. While it's not great it certainly isn't horrible either.

The film starts with a cool introductory scene where we seen vampires played by Parker Posey, Triple H, Callum Keith Rennie (of Battlestar Galactica fame) and others discover a resurrected Dracula. Unfortunately, this scene is directly followed by a boring television interview with an interesting but insignificant character played brilliantly by John Michael Higgins. It's only after this boring and exposition heavy scene that we get to see some Blade action.

Whistler dies but it isn't a very memorable death. It is pretty cool to see Blade fighting police and losing. The interrogation is funny at times like when Blade says to the cop he's killed exactly 1,182 people (not vampires - humans who work with vampires). Seeing Blade psychoanalyzed by the psychiatrist was funny.

A lot of people have problems with the Nightstalkers characters. This group are suppose to help Blade take down vampires but they approach things from a different angle. They're working on biological warfare to take out all vampires instead of killing them one a time which is a losing battle. The two primary Nightstalkers are Abigail (Whistler's daughter) and Hannibal King. King was a vampire but somehow was "cured." The film is a little fuzzy on this point. Whistler was cured of vampirism in the second film and it just doesn't seem to fit with the vampire lore at all. But, at least for King, it does fit with the comics continuity. Anyway, I didn't have a big problem with either character. I actually really liked Hannibal's wisecracks. He's really funny. But maybe that's the problem some people had with this film - it's tone is much lighter than the previous Blade movies.

Some cool concepts are introduced in this movie such as the blood farming facility and the vampire supervirus. Seeing vampiric dogs was cool... why did they look like the Reavers from the second film? Weren't the Reavers super-bad vampires that the rest of the vampires wanted to kill?

Probably the coolest supporting character is a little girl named Zoe. She brazenly tells Dracula off and delivers her lines with a steely look in her eye. The cast in this film is really amazing. Besides the actors mentioned previously this film also had Kris Kristofferson, Ryan Reynolds (in his FIRST comic book movie!), Dominic Purcell, and Jessica Biel.

All in all, it's a somewhat likable action movie but it lacks emotional weight and the tone and mood are wrong for a Blade film. I did like the little nods to long-time Marvel fans such as the don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it Fantastic Four "4" shirt one of the Nightstalkers is wearing.

1LR Review - 8 out of 20 - It's a Miss!

Marvel Media Mania: Blade II

Blade II is the 2002 sequel to Blade. Wesley Snipes and Kris Kristofferson reprise their rolls but the rest of the cast is new.

Right off the bat, I'll tell you that this film suffers from sequel-itis. In trying to differentiate itself from the first film or "take things to the next level" it loses its heart, style, and passion. Honestly, I saw this film when it came out but I didn't remember one thing about it until I rewatched it recently.

Sure, we still have Wesley Snipes in kung-fu action taking down vampires... but why do we care? Sequences seem to be designed to be "cool" not because they have any purpose, such as the motorcycle sequence in the beginning.

The story opens with Blade searching for Whistler, who, somehow survived his memorable suicide from the first film. This is never really explained at all - one huge example of the plot holes in this film. Apparently Whistler didn't kill himself and became a vampire. Then the vampires captured him and held him captive for two years, torturing him and then putting him in stasis chamber blood vats to heal so they could torture him some more. Blade rescues him and gives him a serum and then the rest of the film he doesn't act like a vampire at all. Really? That's all it takes? Because the vampires have been searching for a cure to their weaknesses such as sunlight... turns out, all they needed to do was use Blade's serum!

The plot of the movie involves super-vampires, which are hunting regular vampires and turning them into super-vampires. Blade agrees to help the vampires hunt the super-vampires (called Reavers). While the reavers have a cool design, they're primarily treated as mindless thugs. Once again, I didn't care about them, nor did I care about any of the vampires. A special-ops vampire team called the Bloodpack is introduced but they're all cardboard cutouts - style but no substance. Blade forms an attraction with one vampire, Nyssa, but, once again, I didn't care about that at all. Plot twists don't seem surprising or even interesting at all. In almost every regard, this film falls flat.

Now, that's not to say that this film is completely without merit. The special effects are okay, the action is fine, and I did like the very end when Blade shows up to take out the vampire he let go in the beginning. Scud has the best line in the film when Blade comes home and he says, "The Dark Knight returns!" referencing the Batman storyline by Frank Miller.

Ultimately, this film is a mere shadow of the first one. It lacks the charm and style that made the first film memorable. Unfortunately, it's not the worst Blade movie....

1LR Review - 9 out of 20 - It's a Miss!

Marvel Media Mania: Blade

Blade, released in 1998, starred Wesley Snipes as the title character. It had been a long time since I watched it so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised. Blade remains a highly enjoyable film. As always - spoiler alert!

Blade 

Blade, in many ways, was the launch of the Marvel Media Revolution. Quickly following Blade we were given X-Men and Spider-Man films and the rest is history! Although Blade is certainly not a Superhero film, it was one of Avi Arad's very early successes that game him the steam needed to launch more ambitious projects.

This film is surprisingly low budget at $45M. There are very few CGI effects (primarily because CGI was just beginning to be used in 1998) and, yes, they do show their age a little bit but because they're used so sparingly it doesn't detract from the film.

Perhaps the best aspect of this film is the style. For whatever reason, it just comes across as being very cool. The opening vampire nightclub sequence is cinema gold. When Blade draws a semi-circle on the ground with the tip of his blade before kicking vampire tail it's awesome. The fact that Blade always gets his sunglasses back is reminiscent of Indiana Jones and his hat. Even though he fights in blood-soaked environments, Blade never seems to get dirty. I liked how they explained how Blade financed his anti-vampire crusade: by robbing his victims! The tone of the film is excellent - a dark pulse of action and emotion.

This film does things with vampires that I had never seen before. One such instance was the ultra-fat vampire, Pearl. Another was when Frost (the main bad guy) rips out another Vampire's eye teeth as evidence of his death. Awesome! The teen girl who Blade mistakenly takes for an innocent but turns out to be a ninja vampire is another.

Another positive for this film is the emotional bonds for the characters. Just watching Wesley Snipes fight vampires with karate for two hours is okay but it doesn't mean anything without emotion behind it. It was a brilliant move to bring back Blade's mother. As a first time viewer, you never see it coming! The fact that she now aligns herself with the vampires against her own son and Blade has to kill her gives the film emotional weight. Another surprising return is when Karen's ex-lover returns from a short scene in the beginning of the film.

I can definitely see this film's influence on the 1999 film, Matrix. From the all-black dress code (except for one girl who wears all white) to the lobby shootout with cops/security guards Blade obviously blazed a stylistic path for the Matrix.

While not very quotable, this film does manage to have some good one liners. Blade snarls, "The world you live in is just a sugar coated topping." At another time, Frost brilliantly says to Blade, "Spare me the Uncle Tom routine," which, of course, has multiple meanings since Blade is not only African American but also a vampire living like a normal human.

I always get a little confused when films try to explain vampirism in scientific terms. Vampires are affected by garlic, silver, and sunlight but not crosses and holy water. But the entire plot of the movie revolves around a mystical ceremony so why discount religious symbols? Also, the vampires make a distinction between those born human who are turned into a vampire and "pure bloods" who are born a vampire. How can one be born a vampire? Are vampires actually capable of sexual reproduction?

All in all, this is an excellent movie. If you've never seen it, you've got to check it out.

1LR Review - 18 out of 20 - It's a Solid Hit!