Roger Ebert said in his review, ““Blade,” starring
Wesley Snipes as a killer of vampires who is engaged in an armageddon for
possession of the Earth, is a movie that relishes high visual style. It uses
the extreme camera angles, the bizarre costumes and sets, the exaggerated
shadows, the confident cutting between long shots and extreme closeups. It
slams ahead in pure visceral imagery.”
Obviously, anyone patiently watching the film hoping
for an engaging story line is going to be disappointed. Ebert suggested, “Better
to see it in comic book terms, as an episode in a master-myth, in which even
the most cataclysmic confrontation is not quite the end of things, because
there has to be another issue next month. The story, like so many
comic myths, involves ordinary people who are connected through a superhero to
an occult universe that lurks beneath reality–or, as Blade tells a young human
doctor, “The world you live in is just a sugar-coated topping. There is another
world beneath it–the real world!”” Blade, based on a Marvel Comics character,
is played by Snipes as a man in between human and vampire. Blade’s origin
story: his mother (Sanaa Lathan) was bitten by a vampire while pregnant, poisoning
her son, who lived in the streets until being adopted by a man named Whistler (the
great Kris Kristofferson), who plans a lonely war against vampires. Ebert said,
“Now Blade, raised to manhood, is the spearhead of that battle, as vampires
spread their influence through the major cities. One of their chief gathering
grounds: secret after-hours dance clubs where victims are lured by the promise
of forbidden thrills, only to be bitten and converted.”
Ebert continued by noting, “The movie is built around
a series of major action scenes; the first one features an update of an old
friend from 1970s Hong Kong movies, the flying guillotine. This is a
knife-edged boomerang that spins, slices and returns to its owner. Very neat.”
Blade meets Dr. Karen Jensen, played by N’Bushe Wright,
a blood specialist who has been bitten by a severely burned vampire brought in
for emergency treatment. Can she be saved? He returns her to Whistler’s secret
lab for an injection of liquid garlic, which will give her a good chance. Ebert
noted, “Blade himself lives under a daily reprieve; Whistler’s serum keeps him
on the human side, although he may be building up a resistance to it.”
Displayed against Blade are the armies of vampirism,
lead by his arch-enemy Deacon Frost, played by Stephen Dorff, who’s also
half-human, half-vampire, who dreams of a final vampire rebellion against
humans, and world conquest. Ebert noted, “His rival within the vampire world is
Dragonetti (Udo Keir), a pure vampire who prefers the current arrangement under
which vampires secretly control key organizations to safeguard their interests.”
There is a lot of background inspiring Frost’s plans, including
the recreation of an ancient vampire god who may return to lead the vampires in
their final mission. Ebert noted, “The setting for the climactic scene is a
phantasmagoric vampire temple where Blade must risk everything in a titanic
showdown.”
Ebert continued, “The movie, directed by Stephen
Norrington, is another in a recent group of New Line Cinema movies that combine
comic book imagery, noir universes, and the visual heritage of German
Expressionism; I’d rank it third after “Dark City” and “Spawn.”” This material
is obviously moving in the direction of complete animation, which is the look
it often tries to suggest, and there are some shots here that use special
effects to suggest animation’s freedom from gravity and other physical laws. Ebert
pointed out, “Notice, for example, an unbroken shot where Blade takes Dr.
Jensen in his arms and makes an improbable leap from a high window to a far
rooftop. Can’t be done–especially not with them seemingly floating down in
midair to a safe landing–but the dreamlike feel of escape is effective.”
Wesley Snipes understands the material all the way
around and makes a believable Blade because he knows that the main ingredient
in any interesting superhero is not power, but vulnerability. There is always a
kind of sadness motivating the personalities of the great superheroes, who have
been given great knowledge and gifts but few reliefs in their battle against
evil. The fun seems to be entirely on the villain’s side. By symbolizing those
feelings, Snipes as Blade gives the movie that edge of emotion that without it
would simply be special effects. Ebert mentioned, “Of course you have to bring
something to it yourself, preferably a sympathy for the whole comic superhero
ethos.” This is the kind of movie that gets better the more you know about the
genre.
At a time when comic book adaptations where getting
critically thrashed and bombing at the box office, “Blade” came along in 1998 and
helped the resurrection of the genre. We have to thank this great film into
getting people back into liking comic book adaptations. A majority of comic book adaptations in the 90s were terrible and it looked like they were going to tank, but then this film was released. It helped get comic book adaptations get back up and running. This is simply a film that
everyone must see, regardless of whether they like comic book adaptations or
not. Snipes is the best part of the film because he plays Blade as if he was
meant for the role. The action is phenomenal, the story is engaging, the
characters are great, and the writing is just right. See this if you haven’t because
“Blade” is a comic book film that no one should miss. I would say this is one
of my favorite comic book films.
No surprise, they made sequels to “Blade.” Check in
next week to see how the first sequel turned out in “Black History Movie Month.”
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