Throwback Thursday: Blade II

I’m very ashamed to say this, but Blade II is my all-time favourite comic book movie. I just find it perfect. I’m so sorry you have to find someone who thinks this, but I just find it to be the best. I grew up watching the Blade movies on VHS, and I swear that my copy of Blade II is nearly worn. I’ve enjoyed it throughout my short life, and I don’t think that my sentimentality is clouding my judgement (too much).

In case this film has passed you by, this sequel to Blade follows a half-human, half-vampire who hunts vampires in an attempt to seek the ultimate retribution for his mother’s death. This film specifically follows the aptly named Blade as he teams up with a group of vampires to take on an advanced set of vampires. It truly is as great as it sounds, and thankfully not as stupid.

This is one of those films you’d include in a list of sequels better than the original. It sounds weird to think of Blade II taking a place between Terminator 2 and The Empire Strikes Back, but it really is that good. It is a great horror film, and a great action film. Not to exaggerate, but this is a modern day equivalent to Aliens. There are scenes which greatly build tension, and make you somewhat uncomfortable. On the flip side, there are also scenes of house music backing up gunfire and vampire killing. One of the greatest CBM moments came in the first Blade (in its opening scene to be precise), where Blade enters a vampire nightclub (which happens to be sprinkling blood), and then takes on as many vampires as he can before calling it a day. Blade II has a lot of similar (and just as awesome) moments.

The cast is great also. Along with the perfectly cast Wesley Snipes and Kris Kristofferson, we now get a great new team (including the always awesome Ron Perlman), and a terrific villain in Luke Goss. You can even see the now-famous Norman Reedus in one short scene; one of his first acting jobs following Boondock Saints. Everyone is on fine form and there are no weak links in the acting department. Characters are extremely diverse and the writing definitely accompanies the varying tones. It is a really fun film, mixing with serious story beats that are still just as effective when mixed with the chuckles throughout. I hated Jurassic World because of its inability to handle its silly tonal shifts, but Blade II does a similar thing but it really works here.

Overall, Blade II was a comic book movie made in the era where R ratings were welcomed and were pulled off magnificently. It’s great to see a superhero movie with some blood. If you don’t like action movies (or good movies), then this film might not be directly up your street, but to me, Blade II shaped my childhood and is such a fun and entertaining movie. If you haven’t seen it at all, or at least for a while, it’s so worth going back to because it holds up as pretty damn enjoyable at the very least.