# Blade (1998)

### reviewed by
Paul-Michael Agapow

    # [film] "Blade"
    A Postview, copyright p-m agapow 1998

The eponymous hero (Wesley Snipes) is a half-vampire, which means that he gets all the cool superpowers with none of the disadvantages. He also gets a legitimate excuse to slot real vampires, including the sneering Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) with muchos pyrotechnics and martial arts. And a good thing too.

Think "Wesley Snipes", think "vampires", think "adapted from a comic".

Think "what's on in the theatre next door?"

But that would be a mistake because while "Blade" is a dumb action flick, it's at least enjoyably and inoffensively dumb, with lots of pretty lights and motion. The slim plot contains several colourful vignettes. A vampire culture underlies modern society, split between the old world corporate types (lead by professionally oily Udo Kier) and the youthful hedonistic rebels (led by Dorff). (We know they're rebels because they dress scruffily, listen to loud music and smoke. They're so k3wl.) Quicker than you can say "deus ex machina" the rebels have staged a coup, deciphered the previously undecipherable prophetic scrolls, and get set to unleash major nastiness on the world. In between working out with an Abdominizer, Blade acquires a new sidekick (thus signalling a short lifespan for his old sidekick) and then kicks some butt. Fin.

But what does the film do right? First on the list are the surprisingly adept action scenes. Fluidly choreographed and colourful, they bear comparison to the kinetics of Hong Kong cinema. Snipes, ridiculously buff and self-serious, is actually well suited to this genre. An actor he isn't, but he is an impressive special effect. And while we're on SFX, there are some nicely placed ones. Vampires shot with silver bullets burn down to ashes in midstep. Staked vampires crumble to dust before they hit the floor. It's a tasty if gory eye-fest. Actually the direction of the whole film is quite eye-catching, with an elegant selection of sped-up scenes and washed-out landscapes. Combined with some catchy music and a few genuinely scary setpieces (especially the opening scene in a vampire nightclub where a horde of vampires attack a victim on a bloodsoaked dancefloor), and I think that director Norrington (who has no track record of remark) may be a name to watch out for.

There are a few missteps - there's little evidence of humour here, which the more serious moments need, and as mentioned the plot borders on the intangible. But it is a pretty and fun piece of trash. Rated as such, it's [***/interesting] and better than a poke in the eye on the Sid and Nancy scale.

    "Blade"
    Released 1998.
    Directed by Stephen Norrington.
    Written by David S Goyer.
    Starring Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N'Bushe
       Wright, Udo Kier, Traci Lords.

-- Paul-Michael Agapow (p.agapow@ic.ac.uk), Dept. Biology, Imperial College "We were too young, we lived too fast and had too much technology ..."

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