Blade II

If there's one thing I can say about Guillermo del Toro movies on the Blu Ray format, it's that you're pretty much guaranteed to get a very nice transfer and presentation, both in audio and video. Check out the Blus for Pacific Rim and Hellboy II: The Golden Army for proof. Blade II is no exception on this front, with a crisp 1080p image and 7.1 surround sound that makes this disc a beast. There's a wealth of extras on the disc, most of them carried over from the initial DVD release. It comes with no less than three audio commentaries and a slew of video features that are all worth a watch. The surround sound is worth mentioning again simply because it's so active throughout the movie. If you're looking for an action film with great and busy surround sound to give your speakers a workout than Blade II is a good selection. The movie itself is pretty good actually and some may argue about whether or not it's better than the first. I may have to side with those that favor the sequel over the original which is funny because when I first saw Blade II, I HATED it. It wasn't until I watched it again that I fully began to appreciate it for its great cast of characters and especially intriguing villain, Nomak played by Luke Goss.

Again, this is a great Blu Ray of a better than average sequel. If you're looking to be impressed technically, Blade II's sound and picture will do just that.

Love this movie and can't stop watching it. The complete Score is the most beautiful I have heard since Gladiator. The second disk goes behind the scenes with how the creatures were created, which is a dream for "geeky" folks like me. I love the "how" of movies and this double disk set gives me all I need. There was a problem with my first order, but Amazon cleared that up like a champ. Many Thanks!

Listen to the director commentary, and you'll hear Guillermo del Toro saying that he wanted the Blade sequel to be a fun, gory, comic-booky experience.

Well, he succeeded in the way that only Guillermo del Toro can. While the first movie about the Marvel vampire-hunter was dark and gritty, "Blade II" is gloriously gory and full of rapid-fire violence, unashamed of its animeish action sequences and tongue-in-cheek humor ("Catch you later!"). Wesley Snipes and del Toro give it a suitably monstrous charm, although David Goyer's leaden dialogue bogs down many promising scenes.

While a monstrous hooded vampire preys on other vampires, Blade (Snipes) manages to track down his vampirized mentor Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) and cures him of his vampirism. Then a pair of vampire ninjas arrive, bearing a message for Blade: ancient vampire lord Damaskinos (Thomas Kretschmann) wants to meet with him. Turns out there's a monstrous vampiric mutation called the Reapers loose -- highly contagious, really disgusting, and preys on humans and vampires alike. Blade reluctantly agrees to work with the elite vampire assassin squad called the Bloodpack.

Of course, tensions run high between the vampires and the little gang sworn to kill them -- especially when they arrive at the rave club House of Pain and lose some of their number. Blade takes on the Reapers' leader, Jared Nomak (Luke Goss), only to discover that there are some nasty secrets behind the Reapers' origins. And Damaskinos' plans are far nastier and further-reaching than anyone could have guessed.

Those expecting a copy of the first "Blade" movie should leave the building now. Guillermo del Toro's direction gives "Blade II" a very unique flavour all its own -- it's faster, more grotesque, more fantastical, and more infused with quirky humor. The one sour note is the magical return of Whistler at the beginning, where it turns out that whoops, he wasn't QUITE dead and he's getting better. Contrived much?

And del Toro has fun with the action -- lots of grotesque gore (those flip-out Reaper mouths), anime-style action (Blade garrotes a vampire on a motorcycle) and highly destructive gun battles. The first four-fifths of the story are just mindless shoot-'em-up-and-burn-up-to-ashes Reaper-hunts, but it mutates in the last act. Suddenly we're faced with a vampiric tale of betrayal, revenge and Grecian-style tragedy.

The big problem with this movie? Goyer's dialogue is hit or miss. Sometimes it's hilarious ("You're human." "Barely. I'm a lawyer"), and sometimes it sounds like he put it in because it looked cool on paper ("There's an old saying: Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer"). Much of the time, it's the latter.

Wesley Snipes seems to be having a good time here, with lots of wild action and some wry humour ("Now you got an explosive device stuck to the back of your head"), and Leonor Varela provides a hint of possible romance as an autopsy-performing vampire princess. And the whispery-voiced Luke Goss manages to take a truly repulsive character ("so... so sweet!") and give him an air of tragedy.

In fact, most of the acting is pretty good in this movie, although most of the actors don't get a lot to do (Donnie Yen is particularly underused), though Ron Perlman is wonderfully loathsome as a neo-Nazi vampire who gets on Blade's bad side. Norman Reedus is intensely annoying as Scud, though -- you'll spend a lot of time hoping that someone shoots him by accident.

"Blade II" is a very different beast than its predecessor, and del Toro does a great job with some truly mediocre scripting. Worth seeing if you have a strong stomach.

Blade 2 deserves 5-stars in all aspects: it is a standalone great action/sci-fi movie and it does not disappoint the Blade fans. The side characters are also awesome.
A friendly advice: If you enjoyed the first two movies, DO NOT watch the third one. The third one is a sheer disappointment.