"BLADE" Review by R. L. Strong
Rated R 121 minutes
New line Cinema presents an AMEN RA FILMS production in association with Peter Frankfurt a Stephen Norrington Picture Wesley Snipes Stephen Dorff "BLADE" Kris Kristofferson N'Bushe Wright Donal Logue Co-Producers: Andrew J. Horne and Jon Divens Costume Designer: Sanja Milkovic Hays Music by Mark Isham Edited by Paul Rubin, A.C.E. Prodcution Designer: Kirk M. Petruccelli Director of Phography: Theo Van De Sande, A.S.C. Executive Producers: Stan Lee, Avi Arad, Joseph Calamari, Lynn Harris Produced by Peter Frankfurt, Wesley Snipes, Robert Engelman Writen by David S. Goyer Blade and Deacon Frost characters created for Marvel Comics by Marv Wolfman & Gene Colan Directed by Stephen Norrington
Translating the world of the graphic novel or comic to the screen has never been an easy task. Most filmmakers don't understand the intricacies and character development which are the life blood of this form of art. Most films of this type either go for high camp ('Batman & Robin'), or wallow in excessive nihilism ('The Crow'). With the release of New Line's new film "BLADE", there is hope that the genre may becoming more involving.
"BLADE" opens with a young woman in 1968, her throat torn open going into labor. Flash forward to present day New York, where a young man is being led to an underground rave by a ravishing young woman (Traci Lords). Once inside the club, the young man is buffeted and confronted by most of the congregation. Shortly thereafter, the true purpose of this gathering is revealed when the D.J. turns on the stage lights illuminating a banner which read "Bloodbath". Immediately, the sprinkler system inside the club starts spraying everyone with blood. It is now that the young man realizes that he is going to be the next victim of a troupe of vampires.
Screaming for his life, the young man cowers in the center of the club. Suddenly everyone steps away from him except for one lone man in black. The rain of blood stops. As the young man looks up, he sees Blade (Wesley Snipes) standing in front of him. He picks the boy up and tells him to get out. Blade systematically starts to kill and maim all of the vampires in the club.
Blade is half human/ half vampire. The product of his mother's death at the hands of a vampire. He has become a one man demolition squad, determined to eradicate all vampires. It seems that the vampires (in the mythology of this film) have existed along side man for centuries, working with high ranking officials to gain monetary control of the worlds riches and power yet never venturing out into the open, preferring to remain secretive and unobserved.
This conflicts with the desires of one vampire, Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) who plans to rule the world of man by reviving the ancient demigod, the Blood Demon.
The plot for "BLADE" is very complex and invigorating. For once, here is a film of fantasy and action that wants you to pay attention to it's plot. While not being as tightly constructed as it could have been, "BLADE" earns a nod for attempting something different. While there are marvelous plot constructions in the film, and the action scenes are some of the best we've seen on U.S. screens in years, "BLADE" ultimately fails to deliver the promise of it's goal, by not having a soul.
The problems with "BLADE" are two-fold. Firstly, it's plot is so intricate and delicate that the slightest misstep causes one to forget relevant pieces of information. Secondly, scenes and characters are developed without any emotional content.
Wesley Snipes is a fine actor, possibly one of the cinema's most underrated performers. But here, in "BLADE", he is not called upon to do anything other that stand stoically and / or fight. N'Bushe Wright, is fine in what is basically a woman in distress role. Again the same situation exits for her performance as for Blade, no one is remotely concerned about their fate. This is brought to fore most painfully by the character of Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), Blade's weapon supplier and mentor. Whistler, it is revealed near the end of the film, to be dying of cancer. But there is no urgency to the character, no rush to complete his calling. It's as if everyone is not the least bit concerned with their own impending demise.
This brings us to Stephen Dorff as the vampire Deacon Frost. Mr. Dorff is riveting. He is one of the best screen villains since Gary Busey in the original "Lethal Weapon". When Mr. Dorff is on-screen, "BLADE" comes to life (if you'll pardon the pun).
The Cinematography by Theo Van De Sande is remarkably inventive. There is a subtlety of color used in the film with the exception of blood (which has never been redder). There is a very interesting use of under-cracking during the fight scenes, reminiscent of the action films from Hong Kong which give "BLADE" the kinetic energy that it needs. All of the tech credits are very well served in the film. The art direction and special effects are models of both creativity and function. The demise of the vampires as they are killed is remarkable inventive, eliminating the always troublesome flaw in most films of this type, ie: the massive amounts of severed body parts that no one ever seems to question or find.
Director Stephen Norrington has staged an interestingly flawed film. Some scenes drag out for much longer then they should strictly for shock value (the torture of the horribly obese Vampire Librarian with an ultra violet lamp is a prime example). Other scenes are glanced over (Karen's realization that she may yet become a vampire and have to take her own life). And one glaring misstep relating to Blade's past which has no emotional dimension to it at all.
Blade is one of those films which is really hard to review. These are filmmakers that obviously cared about what they were doing and worked hard to deliver a spectacle equal to their desire. While "BLADE" looks and moves with a great amount of energy and style, what it really needs.. is a beating heart.
On a scale of *****, "BLADE" rates **1/2
Copyright 1998 R.L. Strong Nothing in this review may be copied of duplicated either in whole of in part, without the express written permission of the author.
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