Blade 1 established a lot of the sort of cheesy acting and lines and over-the-top action and tightly choreographed fight scenes that would come to be expected out of a lot of late 90s and 2000s action/superhero movies. It’s a feast for the eyes and keeps things lighthearted enough despite the grimdark setting to make it a fun experience to sit down and watch, and to revisit. Blade 2, however, leans into the grimdark elements of the setting far more than the first, almost to the point of being ridiculous because of it. I think it’s the only piece of media I’ve seen that asks: what if we made a vampire that feeds on vampires?
In leaning in so hard on the stranger and more disturbing elements of the series, particularly the body horror, Blade 2 risks running a bit too far down a path that’d push away a lot of viewers who enjoyed the first movie for its cornball lines and action sequences. However, Blade 2 is a new movie for a new decade; the early 2000s in particular was a period defined by pushing the boundaries from even what the 90s was willing to portray, away from weird and wacky encounters and into a morbid romance with the macabre and brooding. Blade 1 and The Crow walked so Underworld and Resident Evil could run. And frankly, I can’t think of a better director for an action movie that leans into the macabre and strange than Guillermo Del Toro.
Despite the shift in tone, despite the focus on giving Blade, a character who does nothing but kick ass and brood for almost all his screen-time, a love interest; despite making the whole movie a mix between an action movie and a horror flick, Blade 2 works. I think there’s pacing issues, for sure; the whole mystery about what the Reapers are is revealed almost immediately, while their origin isn’t fully revealed until the very end of the movie, after they’ve fought hundreds of the fuckers in the sewers. The drama and slower scenes, however, provide a nice break from the action and anxious horror of the Reapers, and give the movie a moment to breathe. The squad of vampires Blade is leading slowly being picked off by the super-vampires hiding around corners and crawling over the walls lends an air of suspense to a plot that, if I just described it to you outright, would sound like complete B-movie schlock. And yet, the movie keeps you hooked in, hovering just within that ability to suspend your disbelief, to the point you start questioning if it’s worth it.
Blade 2 doesn’t make sense sometimes. It’s a bit too gory for me, occasionally. But damn if I’m not a sucker for a bit of melodrama and some well-choreographed fight sequences, with a bit of horror and gothic vibes mixed in.
