*** Official "BLADE 2" Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[jonathanR]

Hello all:

I'm looking forward to the new BLADE movie comming out on friday, I'm suprised no one has mentioned it earlier. So what does everybody think, will it at least come close to the original. The first one had a limited budget, but really suprised alot of action/horror fans with a good story, dark characters, constant action and was actually one of the best vampire genere flicks to come out in the last few years. Hopefully now with a larger budget the sequel can come at least close to the original. I know the curse of bad sequels always seems to come out, but being a fan of the original, I'll see BLADE II on friday with good expectations.

What do you all think?

John

 

[Patrick Sun]

It think it'll be a bigger movie, but don't know if it'll be a better movie than the original.

 

[TheLongshot]

It might actually be a better film just because Gullirmo Del Toro is involved. He's an experienced horror director, so I'm expecting the movie to focus on a little more on that aspect of the subject matter.

BTW, there are some very glowing reviews on AICN today. Just as a warning, tho, Harry seems to be on some sort of strange drugs, so read his review at your own risk!

Jason

 

[Jay Rodriguez]

hey guys, i got to see B2 today. It was pretty good. There were some fight scenes (with the ninjas) that had poor special effects. You'll see what I mean. I really enjoyed this one a whole lot more than the first one. It was great. By the way, towards the end of the closing credits, you'll see a line that reads, "No Real Reapers were harmed during the making of this movie". Pretty humorous. Blade really kicks ass in this one.

 

[Terrell]

Hmm, tough call. I think Patrick is right that it will be bigger in scope, scale, and box office. Most sequels are, except in box office. Although lately sequels have outpaced their predecessors. But I'm not sure it'll be as good as the original. I'm hoping it will be good. I'll definitely check it out.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

I am really looking forward to this one. Blade is a guilty pleasure of mine and the DVD put out for it was done quite well I might add. I will definately see this opening day. I hope it does well so my HSX stock will be quite 'profitable'. I bought Blade II stock when it was only $10.
I did notice in the trailers that there is alot of CGI used in this one. Some looked good, some...not so good. I hope it plays better on the big screen.

 

[andreasingo]

Every review I have read of this movie have been *very* positive. And Harry Knowles review over at AICN was great fun. Not many seems to get it though...

 

[Todd H]

I LOVED the first one. Hell, I'm calling in sick Friday just to see this!!!

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Based on everything I've scanned on the web about this - it sounds killer!

BTW Blade is one of my favourite demo discs - the Blood Club sequence is awesome!

 

[Robin Warren]

Everything I have seen has screamed CLASSIC vampire movie....I for one cannot wait for this one. Resident Evil tied me over but this will be the big payoff.

 

[Tony_Faville]

I think this one will surpass the original. The first one they were trying to do something not 100% sure how we would like it....this time all reigns were off because they new the last one did so well.

 

[Alex Spindler]

I'm getting psyched to see this one. I think the first director (Stephen Norrington, who did the excellent low budget Death Machine) did such a good job that it would be tough to beat, but Guillermo has shown the ability to set the mood. Let's hope he can follow it up with the action.

 

[Phil Florian]

I just saw a preview showing of this tonight. First off, I must say I am a) a fan of comic books, b) a fan of HK films, c) a fan of vampire movies and d) a big fan of the original movie (just for the record).
I found Blade II to be an absolute hoot! Where to begin. First, as a comic book adaptation. I don't know the comics of Blade. He was off my radar when he first came out (I never read "Curse of Dracula" or whatever that title was that he was born in) but as for the style and presentation, it still had a comic book feel and scope (larger than life, neat environments, supervillians, etc.) As a fan of HK, I was delighted and surprised to see Donnie Yen (Iron Monkey, Dragon Inn, Once Upon a Time in China II and many more) not only in the flick, but also credited with choreography of the plentiful martial arts. The martial arts were outstanding and unlike many other Hollywood flicks, you can actually see it happening in slightly less frentic cuts (I hate that most movies they hide the martial arts behind bad editing...not so here). The CGI as noted above wasn't always up to par. They did a lot of total CGI characters (something I think we will see a lot of in Spiderman, too). The ninja scene, while mostly amazing (and clever) did have some not-so-convincing CGI doubles, but to be honest, it served the story and the scene and I didn't really care.
The facial CGI of the new vampire sub-race (Reapers, and no, that isn't giving anything away) is outstanding, IMHO. I would love to hear other takes on this. In fact, the whole Reaper plot was clever and brought some chill to the whole vampire mythos that was missing from the first one.
The story actually worked as a sequel, too. They referred to happenings in the first movie (with some flashbacks and re-reading of some lines) and closed some holes while creating some new twists. Maybe I will be alone in this, but I thought it was clever how they brought back Whistler. I mean, in comics, characters are always coming back from the dead. This one, in terms of the Blade Universe, made as much sense as any and was a usable beyond a conveneint way to bring him back. It made me question who he was on more than one occasion.

Overall, though, the movie is filled with some great action scenes mixed with a bit of blood and horror along with the great overarching plot that was started with the first movie (pertaining to the larger vampire culture, Blade's role in it, etc.). I definitely recommend this to fans of the original or just fans of good action movies (I would hesitate to call it horror, even though it has elements of it). Good franchise. I hope they stick with it.
Phil

 

[Scott Weinberg]

My friend Erik saw Blade 2 today and he really dug it. Said it was better than the original...and this is coming from a movie fan/critic who really liked the first one. Wait....
Lemme go get him...

 

[Erik Childress]

Yes,

Scott is correct as always (except on Resident Evil).

Blade 2 ROCKED!!! It's better than the original and in the first ten minutes, it delivered everything that RE didn't. GREAT action. TONS of QUALITY kills. After the first hour, I was actually drifting towards a 4-star review. (And you can ask Scott, I can be harsh.) It slows down a bit in the second hour but finishes quite nicely. There is one particular moment (mentioned earlier in this thread) that you'll notice in the warehouse fight scene that looked kinda...well, off. It's because there are two obvious CGI characters fighting each other, but I still didn't care. I thought the film was an absolute blast. It's humor wasn't as forced as it was in the original and boy does it MOVE.

Erik

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Thanks Erik and Phil for the reviews. Can't wait now!

BTW I heard the third movie is on the boards and the plot revolves around:

A future world where the vampires have won and humanity is basically nothing more than cattle.

 

[Shayne Lebrun]

Blade 3 story:
Link Removed

 

[jonathanR]

Hello all:

The reviews sound excellent.......man, can't wait till friday......my cousin was trying to convince me to see RE last week, but I'm glad I saved my money for BLADE II. Now you all know the only real way to watch this flick is in a huge theater in loud digital sound. LOL. Being from So Cal. I hope its playing at the Village MAnn in LA. Nothing like blood, severed demon heads and explosions on a huge cinema screen. =)

John

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

I was on the borderline between recommend/not recommend on the first one (I didn't recommend it), but I did enjoy Blade II. A good example of how a "comic book film" can be done properly. The film's internal logic is easy to follow and isn't too bogged down in always explaining everything. Of course, what most want to know is whether it's fun or not. I thought it was, although it is a tad long in my opinion. I think it should please fans of the first.

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

Saw it last night and dug it, though I enjoyed the first one a little more-- there was more humanity to Blade in that one and I thought the whole vampire/political aspect was better defined.

But this one is much more action packed and much much nastier. While some nifty scenes were pared out of the script (most likely for pacing-- the film comes in at 2 hours on the nose), it still feels lean and the late-in-the-story twist acually works. The Reapers are great and the lead Reaper, Nomak, is actually a real character and not just a monster. The climactic battle is awesome (I didn't think the ninja CG was that bad).

I could have done without the constant rap/metal/techno soundtrack, though-- does everything have to be underscored by MTV music anymore?

As the great Joe Bob Briggs would say: Check it out.