Blade (1998) Review – Wesley Snipes at His Absolute Best

Blade doesn’t waste any time setting up this dark and brutal universe we get to spend some time in. Directed by Stephen Norrington and starring Wesley Snipes as everyone’s favourite vampire hunting half-breed, Blade. This movies is an absolute blast and you get the best of horror, martial arts and high octane action from this movie. Snipes looks badass and delivers a great performance.

The opening scene from this movie is amazing. It starts off with a woman taking a man to a underground club. You’re unsure what is happening. As soon as they get inside she completely changes her attitude towards him. It seems that she has brought him to exactly where she wants him to be. Suddenly, the sprinklers come on and blood covers the dance floor. You quickly realise that this man has entered a vampire club and he is going to be tonight’s snack.

Just as you think he is going to be mauled, the crowd part and Blade makes his entrance. Snipes looks arguably his coolest here. He is wearing his long black leather coat, body armour and sunglasses. He walks into the room with a look on his face that says every vampire in the room is screwed. It is an amazing opening scene and the action that follows is a massive showcase of Snipes’ action hero skills.

The action sequence here is amazing. Blade uses his sword, machine pistol and shotgun to fight off these vampires, well annihilate. The action is fast paced, brutal and stylish. The whole scene has a dark, bloody feel that no other superhero movie has at the time. The action continues as Blade chases a vampire, leading to a hospital where the main focus of the story unfolds.

One of the reasons why this movie works so well is because of the relationship between Blade and Abraham Whistler (played brilliantly by Kris Kristofferson). Whistler isn’t just someone who gives Blade weapons, he was a vampire hunter who took Blade in when he was young. He helped him understand what he was and taught him how to fight the vampires. They have a real father/son relationship and although they aren’t very sentimental, you can see how much they mean to each other.

Stephen Dorff is another standout in this movie. He plays Deacon Frost, who is arrogant, ambitious and determined to take down the vampire hierarchy. Even though he isn’t a pureblood vampire, he doesn’t want to be beneath them. He plans to sacrifice the pureblood elders and bring forth La Magra (the Blood God). This gives the movie an interesting supernatural element. I loved how this builds up throughout the movie and Frost becomes the sacrifice.

There are some amazing horror moments in this movie. One of my favourite scenes is Blade torturing Pearl (the fat pancake vampire archivist) with a UV light. It is brutal, but a darkly entertaining scene. This helps show that this isn’t just an action movie with vampires in the background. The vampires, their weaknesses and the world they live in are very important to the movie.

I love how this movie embraces the horror elements. This is a real R rated Marvel movie. There is so much blood, violence and some brutal scenes. Although Marvel had gone into darker territory with Dolph Lundgren’s The Punisher (1989), Blade showed that Marvel characters could be used brilliantly if they embraced the horror and action elements.

The final battle between Blade and Frost is a class showcase of how ambitious this movie was. As Frost has been empowered by La Magra, the fight isn’t just a simple sword fight. The supernatural elements, effects and intensity of the action makes this a cinematic ending. Snipes is amazing throughout and the martial arts, sword fighting and vampire lore make this an entertaining ending.

Although some of the CGI isn’t as good, especially in the La Magra scene where the blood effects are dated, this is a minor point. The rest of the movie is so entertaining. The practical effects, atmosphere, costumes and action are all brilliant.

Overall, this is an amazingly rewatchable movie. I can watch this movie over and over again and always get that same excitement. The opening scene in the club is amazing, the action is amazing and Snipes is amazing. There is a real magic to this movie that hasn’t lost its charm after over twenty-five years.

This is a brilliant example of how to bring comic book stories into adult action and horror. It is stylish, brutal and has some brilliant characters. Snipes has one of his best performances in this movie. Although some of the effects may look a bit old, this is an absolute classic.