Guillermo del Toro took over a franchise Wesley Snipes had already made profitable and turned it into something stranger, wetter and more violent. Blade II arrived on March 22, 2002, from New Line Cinema, and grossed $155 million. It runs 117 minutes. The sequel improves on its predecessor’s look while repeating its weaknesses.
Trailer, via ClipZone: Heroes & Villains.
Snipes Returns as the Daywalker
Snipes plays Eric Brooks, the half-vampire “daywalker” who hunts his own kind. The film opens in Prague, where Blade is searching for his mentor Abraham Whistler, played by Kris Kristofferson. Whistler was thought dead after an attack by Deacon Frost, but he was instead turned into a vampire and held prisoner for two years. Blade finds him, rescues him and cures him.
Snipes has said the role does not carry much emotional depth. He also said “there’s some acting involved in creating the character and making him believable and palatable.” He is right on both counts, and the second claim is the one the film leans on.
A Virus Turns Vampires Into Reapers
The plot hinges on a pandemic. It turns vampires into “Reapers” — primal, mutant creatures with a ravenous thirst for blood. Their bite is highly infectious and transforms humans and vampires alike. The original carrier is Jared Nomak, played by Luke Goss, who hates the vampire race.
To fight them, the vampire overlord Eli Damaskinos sends his servant Asad and his daughter Nyssa to strike a truce with Blade. Thomas Kretschmann plays Damaskinos. Leonor Varela plays Nyssa.
“Faster. Sharper. Deadlier.”
That is the tagline, and it is an honest one.
The Bloodpack Is the Best Idea Here
Blade reluctantly joins the Bloodpack, an elite vampire squad originally assembled to kill him. It includes Asad, Nyssa, Reinhardt, Chupa, Snowman, Priest, Verlaine and her lover Lighthammer. Ron Perlman plays Reinhardt, who openly challenges Blade to a fight. Blade answers by attaching an explosive to the back of Reinhardt’s skull to keep him in line.
Donnie Yen plays Snowman, a mute swordsman. Danny John-Jules plays Asad. This is the film’s sharpest invention: a team of monsters forced to tolerate the man who kills monsters. Del Toro gets real tension out of a group that cannot trust itself.
Nomak Shrugs Off Blade’s Weapons
The squad raids a vampire nightclub and meets the Reapers. They learn the creatures are immune to most vampire weaknesses except UV exposure. Nomak arrives and tries to recruit Blade. Blade refuses and fights him, but his weapons do not work. The sun rises and Nomak retreats.
Lighthammer is bitten and hides it. Priest is bitten, begins turning, and is mercy-killed by sunlight. These are the film’s best scenes — the infection spreading through a group that cannot see it.
Goyer’s Dialogue Is the Weak Link
David S. Goyer wrote it, and the dialogue is thin. Characters get grudges instead of personalities: Reinhardt against Blade, Chupa against Whistler. Damaskinos wants a superior vampire race as his legacy, and Nomak resents him for creating him, but the film states these motives rather than building them.
The action holds up. The atmosphere holds up. The script does not.
A Franchise Finding Its Footing
Blade II was a box office success and got mixed reviews, praised for its performances, atmosphere, direction and action, criticized for its script and lack of character development. That split is fair. Del Toro’s visual command is real, and the Bloodpack gives the series a world bigger than one man.
But the film keeps stopping to explain itself. Nomak is a genuinely sad monster, a patient zero who hates his maker, and the movie never sits with that long enough. It would rather cut to the next fight. Blade: Trinity followed in 2004.
The Numbers
- Release: March 22, 2002, New Line Cinema
- Runtime: 117 minutes
- Gross: $155 million
- Director: Guillermo del Toro
- Writer: David S. Goyer
- Score: 5.2/10
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