Blade (1998)

Directed by Stephen Norrington. Starring Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N’Bushe Wright, Donal Logue, Udo Kier, Kevin Patrick Walls, Arly Jover, Sanaa Lathan. Eric Edwards, Traci Lords. [R]

After Howard the Duck set them back over a decade, the second Marvel Comics property to get a film adaptation into wide theatrical release is also something of a cult figure, but instead of a wisecracker, it’s a suckheadslayer (“suckhead” being slang for vampire). The stoic, taciturn hero is a “daywalking” human-vampire hybrid who calls himself Blade (Snipes), battling the undead as well as the powerful thirst within himself for human blood; the other chief monster he needs to keep at bay is the vicious leader of a pack of younger vampires bent on world domination, who goes by the too-cool-for-school name, Deacon Frost (Dorff). High-style action picture can be bloody good fun when the adrenaline (and hemoglobin) kicks in, but aside from a few quieter scenes with gruff father-figure Kristofferson, all the fancy camera tricks and dark leather atmosphere in the world can’t camouflage the thinness of the plot, the trite characterizations, or the often weak dialogue. Never tops the supercharged opening sequence inside a blood-soaked nightclub, but considering how many vampire and superhero movies to come don’t have even one memorable set piece, it’s worth savoring. Scripted by David S. Goyer (with an uncredited assist from David Fincher!). Don’t look for a Stan Lee cameo; he did film one, but it was cut from the final film. Followed by two sequels and a short-lived TV series.

68/100