Blade: Trinity
Tags:
blade: trinity | blade | trinity | sequel | david s. goyer | wesley snipes | kris kristofferson | parker posey | vampire | comic book | action | adventure | fantasy | sci-fi | thriller | dracula | vampires | monster | creature | jessica biel | ryan reynolds | dominic purcell
Film: Blade: Trinity
Year: 2004
Director: David S. Goyer
Writer: David S. Goyer
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson and Parker Posey
Review:
This was a film that I was late to. I’m not sure when I first saw it, but it wasn’t the year it came out. I do have to admit that I wasn’t the biggest fan afterwards. It felt more comedy and with how much I liked the second film, it isn’t one that I come back to often. It is interesting now seeing that David S. Goyer wrote and directed this one, he’s a legend in the comic book writing community. This was watched as a Foray through the Fours.
Synopsis: Blade (Wesley Snipes), now a wanted man by the FBI, must join forces with the Nightstalkers to face his most challenging enemy yet: Dracula (Dominic Purcell).
This film begins on a talk show. Being interviewed is a doctor, Edgar Vance (John Michael Higgins) as well as the police chief, Martin Vreede (Mark Berry). The subject is on vampires, especially with a focus on Blade. Dr. Vance points out that in his book, he recounts how there is a real virus that mimics the symptoms of this creature. Both him and Chief Martin agree that Blade is dealing with mental illness.
We then see a helicopter touching down in the Syrian desert. The people that appear are covered head to toe. There is a giant temple that is nearby. They enter and remove their protection. We have Danica Talos (Parker Posey) who looks to be in charge. With her is her brother Asher (Callum Keith Rennie) and their muscle is Jarko Grimwood (Paul Levesque). They have a man using a computer to search the temple. There are ancient glyphs on the wall and Danica informs us that they’re looking for a person. This is the resting place of Dracula, who goes by Drake.
It shifts back to the United States where we learn that Blade has the FBI after him. He was set up by Danica’s crew to make it look like he killed someone in cold blood, in the middle of the road. It was filmed and put out on the internet. Ray Cumberland (James Remar) is leading that investigation to stop him. He’s working with Wilson Hale (Michael Anthony Rawlins).
The police follow Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) back to their hideout with. Whistler tries to tell Blade that he needs to tone it down. He’s right as a raid then occurs. It results in Whistler sacrificing himself to destroy their computers along with all the data. Blade is then arrested and taken into custody.
There he is interviewed until Dr. Vance shows up. We learn that he is a familiar for Danica. He wants him transferred to a mental hospital that he works at. Chief Martin is in on this and agrees, to the anger of the FBI. Their plan doesn’t work out though when two people break in to free Blade. They are two members of a group known as the Nightstalkers. There is Abigail (Jessica Biel) and Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds). Vampires show up, with Danica, Asher and Jarko among them. They fail as Blade and this duo flee.
He is taken back to their hideout and isn’t impressed with this outfit. It feels like part of his rage is losing Whistler, so he doesn’t have high hopes for this group. That is despite their technology. Abigail was an illegitimate child to Whistler. It also seems like he was working with this group, which is where technology Blade has used comes from. Part of that team is Sommerfield (Natasha Lyonne) and Hedges (Patton Oswalt).
Our group must work together to uncover how deep this plot goes, who is involved and hide a way to stop the first vampire. Drake has different powers and is more powerful than anything Blade has faced. They also need his blood to help rid the world of this creature, once and for all.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that there are good parts to this film and it also incorporates elements from the comic books. Now I’m not overly versed in Blade or his lore, but I do know that he fights against more supernatural beings. I did a quick search to figure out that he has done battle with this legendary villain. Dracula also has his own comic with Marvel. I don’t believe that this is based on a certain issue or run, at least to my knowledge.
Now that I’ve set that up, let me delve deeper into what we’re getting here. There is this through line in the beginning of the film that Chief Martin says about crime being down. He’s using this as a way to point out that Blade is a menace. I love the reveal as to why crime is down. It is a morbid concept that I won’t spoil. What I’ll say is that it is a cool concept for vampires so they don’t always have to hunt. It does have interesting commentary on class though, correlating humans to the poor or peasants. Using vampires to convey this makes sense.
Something that you need to do with sequels is to continuously raise the stakes for the hero. Comic book films tend to do well since there always seems a much stronger villain that you can use next. What I like here is that not only have they made Blade an enemy of the state, with the FBI being after him. They also bring in the most famous vampire of all-time, Dracula to be his foe. I’m not sure that they do well enough in developing Drake here. He is just a menacing figure that is in the background until the climax. that is a misstep there for me.
I do want to then shift over to filmmaking. Starting with the positives. This is shot well. The cinematography for the action scenes are good. We have a solid group that also know how to work the frame when doing the fight scenes. This is what people are here for with this movie so credit to that. I’d say that the effects were fine. The practical ones look solid. There is CGI here that doesn’t hold up. Not all, but moments took me out. Other than that, the soundtrack was fine for what was needed. The biggest issue though is that this movie is flat. It doesn’t build tension and I’m not worried about the characters.
All that is left then is discussing acting performances. Snipes is great here as Blade. He owns this role. He has a great look about him. The physical abilities and his demeanor are perfect. Biel is attractive and she does well in her role. I do like the backstory with her being Whistler’s daughter. Reynolds adds comedy. It is weak here due to the amount of ‘dick jokes’, but he has good charisma. I did like having a cameo by Kristofferson. Purcell brings a good look to Drake. His acting is flat. It does oddly fit for a vampire who has been alive for thousands of years. Posey is solid along with Rennie and Levesque. I did like cameos as well by Lyonne, Remar, Higgins, Oswalt and the rest of the cast. They rounded this out for what was needed.
In conclusion, this film isn’t as good as the first two but still a fun popcorn action horror film. There are good things here. Having Blade need to worry about the FBI ramps up tension as does needing to go against Dracula. There is even social commentary with a reveal as to what the vampires’ plans are. The action sequences are well done. I’ll credit the cinematography, framing and the effects there. There is CGI that doesn’t hold up. I’d also say that the acting was fine. Something I left out is great to see Reynolds make jokes and get no reaction from Blade. That made me laugh. Just shut off your brain to roll with the movie.
My Rating: 6 out of 10