MouthLondon - London Student & Youth Magazine
Retro Review: Blade
Pin ItBefore Twilight and the sparkly vampires, Underworld and the leather clad vampire/werewolf war came the bad ass that was Wesley Snipes: Blade. Not only does Blade put most modern vampire creations to shame, the film was and is the start of the cinematic obsession with Vampirism.
Based on the Marvel character of the same name, Blade was the granddaddy of the winning combination of violence and vampires. The story focuses round the protagonist Blade (Wesley Snipes) whose mother was bitten by a vampire just before he was born. Childbirth killed his mother, but he survived with all of the vampire’s strengths and none of their weaknesses. Jump forward thirty years and Blade is fighting a war with the help of his mentor, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), as they take on the Vampire elders and their violent and volatile poster boy, Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff). A cure for Vampirism and the planned resurrection of the ancient vampire god, La Magra, are the two key plots.
…doesn’t shy too far away from the main idea to lose its comic following…
Overall Blade shares similarities with its comic book counterpart. The inclusion of beautiful make-up designs and stunning choreography means that the narrative doesn’t become stale. After a revelation midway and the loss of a main character, the movie moves on to an epic confrontation that pushes the realms of the supernatural.
With any film that was made so long ago, cinematically there will be some problems. Blade suffers from the dated look. By all means it is a wonderful story with some gripping dialogue and fleshed out characters, but the fashion of the nineties definitely lets you know the time period of the film.
The CGI is questionable in some points…
Also being released at the end of the nineties meant that Blade also suffers from being at the point of the digital effect revolution, but not getting there altogether. The CGI is questionable in some points and in further instalments of the franchise have been rectified for full explosion-y goodness when vampire go poof.
If you want to delve into a well thought out mythology about vampires then lock away the pretenders of the throne like Underworld and Twilight and see how a real half vampire takes out the bad guys.
4.5 Stars
Images courtesy of New Line Cinema
About the author
I'm the Editor of MouthLondon, with a specific control over our Online features and implementation. As a Film graduate with a particular interest in Scriptwriting, Production and Cinema, I enjoy talking about and making short films with a production crew of non professional enthusiasts.
Further articles by David Holloway | Editor →
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