Marvel Media Mania: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance was released today (2/17/12). It's the sequel to the original Ghost Rider movie, starring Nicholas Cage.

The storyline of this sequel divorces itself from the original almost completely, except for the basic concept of the deal with the Devil. Johnny Blaze finds himself in Europe. Gone is the entire supporting cast from the first film. In fact, the character of Johnny Blaze seems to have completely changed. Gone are the stunts and jelly beans, replaced with angst and insanity. Even Ghost Rider is very different, now "eating souls."

Ghost Rider remains visually very well done (especially in 3D), this time with oily black smoke rolling off of him. But as a character, he's the equivalent of a robot with a circuit loose. His behavior doesn't make sense most of the time and the film doesn't explain it. One time he rides into combat but just stands there with his fist raised into the air. I think there's a few times when he "eats someone's soul" (he opens his mouth wide but besides that there's no other visual clue) but he chooses to do it in the middle of active combat, allowing the bad guys to defeat him.  At various times in the film, Ghost Rider uses vehicles other than his motorcycle, all of which burst into flame just like his bike. Most ridiculously is a what appears to be a large earth-moving construction vehicle of some type. Ghost Rider's partial transformations come across as ridiculously cartoonish.

The main villain is the Devil and a human named Carrigan. The bad guys that he struggles to defeat are, for the most part, normal guys who he should have been able to take care of without a problem. Carrigan is transformed into a decay demon (who apparently is suppose to be Blackout, though he is never called that in the film). Carrigan's decay powers are selectively applied even though he's suppose to be unable to control them. How is he able to drive for hours if his touch destroys anything in mere seconds? The Devil himself proves easy to dispatch since he was "reimagined" to need a frail mortal host to survive.

This film fails on almost every level. At times, the film attempts to break new ground, inserting "comic bookish" sequences, but these come across as being exposition heavy momentum killers. The plot is extremely simple but seems muddled because basic concepts aren't explained until late in the film (why is there all the fuss over this kid again?). Characters are cardboard cutouts lacking any real emotion, backstory, or motivation. Even the editing and camera work is extremely poor. The film missed out on major opportunities to explore themes like the difference between vengeance and justice. I don't want to give away the ending but lets say that the logic behind the "new" Ghost Rider doesn't make any sense.

There were two funny moments in the film. One was when Blackout tries to eat but all of the food decays as he touches it... except a Twinkie. The second was seeing Johnny Blaze squirm as he's asked hypothetical questions by a kid, a la Mallrats. "What happens if you have to pee when you're on fire?" the kid asks. "It's like a flamethrower," Blaze replies. The accompanying image is hilarious.

But what isn't funny is wasting your money on this film. I expect nobody is going to be happy with this slop of a movie, Ghost Rider fans or not.

1LR Review - 6 out of 20 - It's a Failure!

Marvel Media Mania: Ghost Rider

Ghost Rider is a 2007 movie that presents the origin story of the title character.

Ghost Rider starts out so well. The entire opening sequence with the young Johnny Blaze, his father, and Roxanne works. They cast fantastic younger look-alike versions of Nick Cage and Eva Mendes to play the teenage versions of Johnny and Roxanne. I liked how the deal-with-the-devil was worked out and the bitter irony of it.

When the movie transitions into modern day with a middle aged Blaze it initially holds my attention. The way the action unfolds with Blaze's jump over the helicopters is cool and his pursuit of Roxanne is also very cool. I  initially liked how quirky Blaze is - eating jelly beans, watching stupid TV, and living recklessly (but not WRECKlessly... haha). Over time, however, Blaze ends up just coming across as a social moron whose initially charming quirks turn into debilitating weirdness.

Ghost Rider looks awesome. They went for a complete CGI character and it was a good move. The initial transformation to Ghost RIder is fantastic and the change back to Blaze was similarly well done! I liked the Ghost Rider bike and how his appearance changes throughout the movie, adding a chain and spikes.

 It is when Blackheart and his cronies show up that the film goes down hill. First, Wes Bentley does an absolutely horrible job as Blackheart. Blackheart comes across as a spoiled child, not a serious demonic threat. The rest of the villians "The Hidden" are so forgettable I couldn't even tell you their names if I didn't look it up online (Abigor, Wallow, and Gressil in case you were wondering). In any event, Ghost Rider defeats each one in very easily about 20 seconds or so. Yawn. In the first fight I wondered why all four of them didn't just gang up on Ghost Rider. Instead, they attack him one a time like bosses in a video game - Beat level 1, level 2, level 3 - HEAD BOSS! If that doesn't sound that interesting, you're right.

The police storyline is an oddity. It goes nowhere. The police are tracking down evidence at the scene of each fight. They even detail Blaze, question him, and lock him up only to have him transform into Ghost Rider, break out, and get chased by the police. Then the police apparently completely forget they were interested in Blaze because you don't see or hear from them again for the rest of the movie. Weren't their video cameras in the prison to catch Blaze transforming into Ghost Rider? Didn't the police want to... you know, continue questioning Blaze for an unsolved murder case?

The movie is riddled with these little logical holes and oddities. Ghost Rider apparently doles out brain death to common muggers on the street. Roxanne apparently has no problem dating somebody who transforms into a demonic entity every night. Really? Cause I got to tell you - that'd be a deal breaker for most women. At the end of the movie, Caretaker (AKA Western Ghost Rider) rides 500 miles with Ghost Rider to the final showdown... and then doesn't fight. Instead, he transforms back into a human for the last time and apparently rides the 500 miles back home but instead on a normal horse this time. Huh? Why not have him fight a little and then get knocked out or killed or something? Weird.

I wanted to like this movie and it does some things right but ultimately misses the mark. Let's hope the sequel is better.

1LR Review - 10 out of 20 - It's a Miss!

Marvel Media Mania: Dr. Strange (2007)

Dr. Strange is a 2007 animated direct-to-DVD movie. It is the origin story of Dr. Strange, updated and reimagined.

This movie has some serious issues. But first, the positives.

I thought the retelling of the origin story was well done. This movie does an good job at introducing someone who has never heard of Dr. Strange to the core concepts of the character. You have all of the critical elements - Mordo, The Ancient One, Wong, and the bad guy, Dormammu. They just drag it out a bit more than it was in the comics and give Dr. Strange more of a back story with his dying sister, April. This gives the viewer a greater understanding of why Dr. Strange is such a jerk. Really, when you think about it, the story is essentially the same story as the Newbery Medal winning novel, Johnny Tremain.

Visually, it is interesting enough. The animation is well done and the character designs are pretty good. They manage to give each magician their own look and reflects their different abilities and personalities. The way the magical powers express themselves is cool like the swords that are drawn out of thin air and using the "eye" amulets to see invisible creatures.

The sequence with Dr. Strange's training in the temple is pretty cool too, especially the wall that he has to tear down every day but rebuilds itself. I also liked the nod they gave fans at the end when they mention (SPOILER) Clea.

Now, not everything is sunshine and roses. Like I said, this movie has some serious problems.

The issue with the characters is that there are so many magicians that, outside of Mordo, Wong, and the Ancient One you don't even learn their names. Now that might be okay if these folks were in the background but they're the primary focus of all the movie's action until the end! You can't even find out their names in the credits because they're not listed. So when you're watching these magicians fight and die you really don't care at all because you don't even know who they are.

Not only doesn't the viewer care about the magician "good guys" they don't care about the villains, either. We don't even see Dormammu until 3/4 of the way through the film. Until then, it's an endless parade of nameless creatures with no backstory whatsoever.

The biggest problem with this movie, however, is that it is very slowly paced. Since the viewer doesn't care about any of the earlier action, the good magicians or the evil creatures we're left with a story that drags on. There's lots of talking that is sure to bore kids. Every point the writers want to get across is beaten to death. We get it. Stephen Strange is a big jerk. We get it. Stephen Strange's hands don't work and nobody can fix them. The flashbacks to Stephen's dying sister, April, while interesting, just slow the movie down even more.

I'm not sure who their target audience was for this movie - kids or adults. The inclusion of some swearing and some disturbing images (such as flying bat-piranha things eating all the flesh from a dozen or so victims leaving a skeleton behind, Dr. Strange's suicide attempt, or a few dozen kids streaming demonic flames out of their mouths) makes me think they were going for an older audience. Also, the general pace of the story and the fact that Dr. Strange is a big, adult jerk who refuses to help sick children in the beginning of the movie would also be turn-offs to children watching. But on the other hand the plot revolves around children and everything is kept uncomplicated so a child could understand it. Either way, I think they missed the mark with this one. The final product is one that neither children nor adults will likely enjoy.

1LR Review - 7 out of 20 - It's a Failure!

Marvel Media Mania: Dr. Strange (1978)

Dr. Strange is a pilot for a failed TV series that originally aired in 1978.

For this pilot, the origins of Dr. Strange are completely reworked. He's not a surgeon - he's a psychiatrist. He doesn't have an accident that scars his hands, Mordo doesn't make an appearance, and the "Ancient One" doesn't live in an isolated monastery. Instead, the "old man," Thomas Lindmer, lives in the city and has had contacts with Strange's dead father as evidenced by the ring Strange wears. It's actually difficult to tell who anybody is suppose to be. I assumed the "old man" was the Ancient One but I don't believe he's ever called that directly. The character of Clea is simply called, "the girl" for most of the movie so when they finally get around to saying her name you wonder who they're talking about. Strange himself comes across as smug because he always wears a smirk on his face. He's not a likable or even a sympathetic character.

Perhaps the worst thing about this pilot is how slow it is. You really don't see any sorcery until about 50 minutes into this 90 minute film. When you're tuning in to a Dr. Strange film you want to see magical combat and cosmic mysteries. Instead what you're given is a very boring episode of E.R. When magic is used it usually manifests itself in ordinary ways such as manipulating animals and people to do certain things.

But when magic requires special effects they are predictably horrible. I can forgive this because it is 1978 but the sock-puppet demon lord is quite laughable. The "old man" character clearly rips off the Jedi Mind Trick from Star Wars which was released the year prior. Likewise, the journey to the Astral Plane looked like it was ripped off from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Much of the plot doesn't make much sense and the writers seem to rely on the catch-all, "Well, that's just how magic works," far too often.

At one point Dr. Strange picks up a Hulk comic and smiles. It's a nice nod to the 1977 live-action The Incredible Hulk show that surely paved the way for Dr. Strange's own pilot. But clearly the creators of Dr. Strange didn't learn any lessons by watching the Hulk show.

1LR Review - 6 out of 20 - It's a Failure!

Marvel Media Mania: Man Thing

Man-Thing is a 2005 direct-to-DVD movie (it is listed as having a box office total of $143,615 but it certainly wasn't released across the nation into movie theaters). It's budget was a measly $7.5 million. Let's cut right to the chase on this one: We might be getting the worst Marvel media project out of the way early on in Marvel Media Mania. Because this thing is a real stinker.

First of all, Man-Thing barely appears in this film. His total screen time is less than five minutes. An oil pump and a dream catcher have more screen time. Seriously. Man-Thing first appears at 42:30 in the film and then we only see his hand. Now I understand hiding the monster to build up suspense but this film isn't suspenseful or scary. Man-Thing is actually the "bad guy" of the film as he is a mass murdered randomly killing humans who wander into the swamp. Why? To push a liberal anti-corporation, pro-environmental agenda. Man-Thing himself looks okay except for the fact that he's an obvious CGI.

This is perhaps the most "mature" Marvel film as well as it is the only one I can think of with frontal nudity, strong swearing throughout, and bloody gore.

Perhaps the biggest problem with this film is the sheer boredom it induces. There are two LONG swamp sequences that are nothing but character travelling in the swamp at night. These sequences actually quite difficult to stay awake during. The plot is slow and there's little character development. I watched this movie twice and I was still confused when they mentioned the name of another character. In the end you just don't care about any of the characters - not even the main character, Kyle Williams, the new sheriff. He moved by Bywater for a job but we never find out anything about his character other than he's a cop.

The best line of the film comes in the first minutes. The new sheriff asks, "Why do they call it Bywater?" His guide replies in a thick southern drawl, "Because it's by the water." That's as good as it gets in this movie.

1LR Review - 3 out of 20 - A Total Failure!

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!