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Blade (1998):
Blade's an unusual superhero to say the least. In fact, I think
of the Blade movies as action movies instead of superhero movies
because he isn't exactly Superman or Lone Ranger or Spider-Man or
X-Men. No, Blade is in a class all by himself. But he is a
character that comes from comic books and has a lot of other things
that superheroes have: superpowers, weapons, a sidekick, a cool
car, kind of a costume, a larger-than-life attitude. He also has
his weakness: he has to take a certain drug or his vampire urges
will take over and turn him evil. He's half human and half
vampire, and can go out in the daylight giving him the nickname "The
Daywalker." His real name is Eric Brooks, by the way, but he is
almost always called "Blade."
Blade also has a major villain: a vampire by the name of Deacon Frost. N'Bushe Wright plays Dr. Karen Jenson, a really important character in this film because she is Blade's ally and connection to the outside world of humans. Although Blade's sidekick Whistler is human, they both tend to stay hidden from the world. By the time "Blade II" comes around, Karen Jenson is gone. No explanation. I really thought this would be Blade's love interest. It could've worked. Oh well. By the way, I really enjoyed Kris Kristofferson as Abraham Whistler. He's an aging hippie kind of guy...an inventor. He's the one who designs all of Blade's impressive gadgets and weaponry. He gets killed in this movie. In "Blade II" we find out he is still alive. This is easily Kristofferson's best movie role. He has a lot more importance than just an "extra" character or celebrity cameo.
What makes this film not so much of a superhero film for me is that it is excessively violent. I can handle violence, although I don't encourage it. However, this movie goes way over the top for shock value. It works. Some of the stuff gets WAY gross. I think they could've cut some of the really nasty violent scenes out and still have a dark and gritty movie, but the special effects are impressive and all the violence does give you a strong idea of what Blade really does or how something like this might work if it was reality.
I like all the Blade movies quite a bit. They're interesting and full of visual surprises.
Blade also has a major villain: a vampire by the name of Deacon Frost. N'Bushe Wright plays Dr. Karen Jenson, a really important character in this film because she is Blade's ally and connection to the outside world of humans. Although Blade's sidekick Whistler is human, they both tend to stay hidden from the world. By the time "Blade II" comes around, Karen Jenson is gone. No explanation. I really thought this would be Blade's love interest. It could've worked. Oh well. By the way, I really enjoyed Kris Kristofferson as Abraham Whistler. He's an aging hippie kind of guy...an inventor. He's the one who designs all of Blade's impressive gadgets and weaponry. He gets killed in this movie. In "Blade II" we find out he is still alive. This is easily Kristofferson's best movie role. He has a lot more importance than just an "extra" character or celebrity cameo.
What makes this film not so much of a superhero film for me is that it is excessively violent. I can handle violence, although I don't encourage it. However, this movie goes way over the top for shock value. It works. Some of the stuff gets WAY gross. I think they could've cut some of the really nasty violent scenes out and still have a dark and gritty movie, but the special effects are impressive and all the violence does give you a strong idea of what Blade really does or how something like this might work if it was reality.
I like all the Blade movies quite a bit. They're interesting and full of visual surprises.