Movie Review: Blade - Trinity

Written by Chris Beaumont
Published December 21, 2004

The evolution of the Blade series continues with Trinity. This time there is a much stronger comedic aspect in addition to it being more straight forward action film than the previous entries. It also sidesteps the development of the Blade character from the first two films. Granted, the character is more archetype than rounded fully fleshed out dramatic character. But, I'm getting ahead of myself, let's take a few steps back.

Blade 1 was an excellent comic adaptation that gleefully embraced it's R rating, and helped ignite the current Hollywood infatuation with the comic book adaptation. The sequel took it a step further, stepping up the action quotient and giving the film a look that was significantly different from the first while remaining firmly entrenched in the same universe. This film steps in a new direction, again still in the same Blade universe that has been developed in the first two films. We get one interesting character interactions, plus Blade gains some more friends to help in his continuing battles against the vampiric forces and their evil plans for humanity.

The film opens with a very interesting chase battle between Blade and a vampire gang. We watch Blade dispatch these fanged forces in a variety of ways, until he comes across one who doesn't turn into fiery ash. Blade has been setup. He is quickly captured and.... Can't go any further than that. But I thought it was an interesting start, opening up a new dynamic between Blade and the rest of humanity. It starts to go downhill from there as far as character development goes, it then turns into an action comedy, and on that level it succeeds.

The plot follows a group of upstart vampires, led by Parker Posey, who wish to put the final solution into motion by resurrecting the original vampire to deal with Blade. Of course, catching Blade proves difficult, due to the constant meddling of his newfound friends. Hannibal King and Abigail Whistler join Blade by helping him and getting in his way at the same time. They are perfect at drawing the attention of the vampire fodder.

This movie falls squarely in the realm of guilty pleasures for me, it is hard to defend it as a good film, but it is one hell of a fun ride. At this point, they have pretty much taken Blade as far as they can, unless they introduce an interesting villain other than the vampire of the week. If they go that route, I wouldn't mind seeing Blade go up against Morbius the Living Vampire. But back to the movie.

The cast is fun, and has that added sense of youth with Blade's new teammates. Wesley Snipes does an admirable job of bringing Blade to life, although, this is probably the weakest of the three. He makes his way through the film spouting brief lines and growling a bit. It is fine for the character who has always been a little stoic. Ryan Reynolds brings the comic elements to the forefront, at moments it was like watching Van Wilder: Vampire Hunter. Not that that's a bad thing, just brings another element. Jessica Biel, on the other hand, not much comedy to her role, she brings the depression to the table, counter-balancing the over the top comedy from Reynolds.

page 1 | 2
Christopher Beaumont spends much of his time writing about entertainment when he isn't sitting in a movie theater. He is known around the office as the "Movie Guy" and is always ready to talk about his favorite form of entertainment and offer up recommendations. Interests include science fiction, horror, and metal music. His writings can be found at Draven99's Musings, as well as Film School Rejects.
Keep reading for information and comments on this article, and add some feedback of your own!
Movie Review: Blade - Trinity
Published: December 21, 2004
Type:
Section: Video
Filed Under: Video: SF, Video: Horror, Video: Fantasy, Video: Comedy, Video: Adventure, Video: Action
Writer: Chris Beaumont
Chris Beaumont's BC Writer page
Chris Beaumont's personal site
Spread the Word
Like this article?
Email this
Submit to del.icio.us Save to del.icio.us
RSS Feeds
All RSS Feeds (240+)
Comments on this article
BC articles by Chris Beaumont
Video: SF
Video: Horror
Video: Fantasy
Video: Comedy
Video: Adventure
Video: Action
All Video Articles
Chris Beaumont's personal weblog
All BC articles
All BC Comments

Comments

#1 — December 23, 2004 @ 12:58PM — Andrew Ian Dodge [URL]

I know several people who went to see this and share your opinion.

#2 — January 28, 2005 @ 20:17PM — Ed

When I saw that, I wasn't really expecting anything good, or thought-provoking. Just entertainment. I thought, though, that "Drake" seemed really... cheesey I suppose you could say. But perhaps that's the writer's fault, not his.

Want comments emailed to you? No spam, promise! Address:

Add your comment, speak your mind

(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/23495)

Personal attacks are not allowed. Please read our comment policy.





Remember Name/URL?

Please preview your comment!

Fresh
Articles
Fresh
Comments