Blade [1998]

June 3, 2024

I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the year of our lord Satan 1999 and I finally got the opportunity to watch the movie I’ve been hearing about for the past several months. During that time, I kept seeing snippets of the infamous blood disco scene. So, when I finally hit that play button and realized that it was actually the opening scene, I was simply blown away. And then the real movie started and throughout the next two hours I had this constant smile on my face. Blade is a highly entertaining and stylish action/horror movie about a vampire hunter fighting a good fight. It’s based on the Marvel comic book of the same name.

You could argue that the whole Marvel superhero craze actually began right here, with Blade. The movie was a huge financial success and it spawned two solid sequels. It also proved that the world was ready for a black superhero, something that would’ve been a joke in the eighties. And just one decade earlier, we had another type of a black protagonist, starring in a number of Blaxploitation movies. This is how Wesley Snipes approached this project (his own words) after failing to make Black Panther adaptation. It goes without saying that Wesley was the perfect choice for the role.

Especially when you consider the fact that the other two contenders were Denzel Washington and Laurence Fishburne. He was the one who convinced the studios to cast a black actress N’Bushe Wright as his love interest. She was supposed to be played by a white girl in the original script. Apart from them we also have Kris Kristofferson, Stephen Dorff, and Udo Kier. Donal Logue here plays the charming bad guy for the first time, a role he’s going to keep coming back. The thing that’s going to hit you first when you start watching Blade is just how cool it is. The atmosphere is dark but also playful and even humorous.

And the stylish visuals still look awesome after all that time. The CGI is sometimes janky but once you see Wesley in that leather suit, you’ll forget all about that. I also have to point out the superb CGI used to create the transformation sequences. The pacing is excellent and Blade is a thrilling ride from start to finish. You can consider it a classic nineties guilty pleasure movie. After all, once that techno music starts pumping you’ll feel obliged to check out the rest of them. I’m guessing Matrix will be first on the list as it has almost the same ingredients as this one. And I’m not just talking about leather coats and the overall style. Just pay close attention to the action sequences and you’ll see what I mean.

The one towards the end, in a sleek vampire headquarters, looks eerily similar to the big lobby shootout in The Matrix. Finally, we have the now almost forgotten “bullet time” when bullets are slowly flying through the air toward their targets. Something that will become quite popular in the coming years. There are so many memorable and visually impactful scenes here that I’m having trouble selecting the right screenshots for you. All of this action is quite brutal and visceral. Hands and heads will be chopped off and Blade will kill vampires in the most unusual ways.

Some of them will bloat up and simply burst while others will evaporate. Some poor suckers will even be hit by a train. I also want to remind you that Stephen Norrington made just one more movie before focusing on his personal projects. That movie is none other than The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, another flashy superhero extravaganza. Well, I guess I got a little carried away here, not telling you what this movie is actually about up until now. I mean, does it really matter? You already know Wesley Snipes is going to kick some vampire asses and that should be enough to warrant a viewing.

Over the past 25 years (yes, it’s been that long), I’ve discovered that Blade is one of those party movies you can watch drunk or high. Or, preferably both. It’s going to keep your attention with slick action scenes and witty one-liners and it lacks the commercial vapidness of modern superhero movies. To put it quite bluntly, this is a superhero movie comic book adaptation with a soul. Just when you think that the movie is done surprising you, it pulls another rabbit out of the hat. Or a morbidly obese vampire who’s really good with computers.

Too bad we didn’t get the chance to see the Blood God La Magra in its full glory. I was expecting some huge monster, like the one we will get a couple of years later in Resident Evil. However, you can always check out the two sequels if you want to see more of vampire hunter action. Speaking of similar movies, you also might not resist the charming cheesiness of Dracula 2000. Although I think the Underworld franchise is a much better fit.