Blade II (2002)

Director:

Guillermo del Toro

Writers (WGA):

Marv Wolfman (character) &
Gene Colan (character) ...

Release Date:

22 March 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller | Horror

Tagline:

Know The Mark

Plot:

Blade forms an uneasy alliance with the vampire council in order to combat the Reaper vampires who feed on vampires.

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Blade | Reaper | Warrior | Vampire Slayer

Awards:

3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Wesley Snipes	...	Blade
Kris Kristofferson	...	Whistler
Ron Perlman	...	Reinhardt
Leonor Varela	...	Nyssa
Norman Reedus	...	Scud
Thomas Kretschmann	...	Damaskinos
Luke Goss	...	Nomak
Matt Schulze	...	Chupa (as Matthew Schulze)
Danny John-Jules	...	Asad (as Danny John Jules)
Donnie Yen	...	Snowman
Karel Roden	...	Kounen
Marit Velle Kile	...	Verlaine
Tony Curran	...	Priest
Daz Crawford	...	Lighthammer
Santiago Segura	...	Rush

Also Known As:

Blade 2: Bloodhunt (USA) (working title)
Blade 2: Bloodlust (USA) (working title)
Blade II (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong pervasive violence, language, some drug use and sexual content.

Runtime:

117 min | Finland:108 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English | Romanian | Czech

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES | Dolby Digital EX | SDDS

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:15 (cable rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:IIB (original rating) | Hong Kong:III (DVD rating) | Ireland:18 | Japan:PG-12 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Singapore:NC-16 (original rating) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #38848) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Barrandov Studios, Krizeneckeho namesti, Prague, Czech Republic

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

The phrase "a man without fear" is used in this film. This is another comic book reference, this one a reference to Daredevil, which is to become a Ben Affleck film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Blade fights Nomak the first time, they pass through enough daylight to cast shadows, but Nomak does not react to the light cast on him.

Quotes:

Eli Damaskinos: Who do you think God really favors in the web? The spider, or the fly?

Movie Connections:

References Alien (1979)

Soundtrack:

Name of The Game

breaking rules

Other than the explanation of where he came from, who he and everyone else is, at the beginning, this film stands nicely on its own. for those of you that know the first one, then this opening explanation will be a little irritating (and a tad confusing, but it becomes clear later). The opening does smell strongly of franchise potential, being repeated in all the inevitable sequels still to come. Once past this though, we are lead through a massive fight and action scene that sets up the whole movie. and warns anyone who can't stand Hong Kong action scenes that they are probably watching the wrong screen.

The movie is essentially a platform for Snipes to have fun with his most renowned character. And he does so with very entertaining results. The movie has reasonably well rounded characters, suspicion piled on top of everyone, some amazing set pieces and a good sense of humour. The impact of all the blood and guts is reduced by the obvious fantasy of the fights (wires and SFX a lot of the time), but its still pretty powerful.

The lead performances are all very good, although some of the peripheral characters are a little too hammer horror. Luke Goss demonstrates great potential, although you would need to see him without the make up, body doubles, and special effects to really judge. and there is occasionally that urge to shout "when will I be famous." and the pure blood female vampire who takes a shine to blade is well worth being bitten by.

Overall it feels less like a sequel and more like a stand alone movie. with this in mind, I think its in fact better than the original (a rare example of the exception that proves the rule).