These days, when you think about Superhero movies, you think: Marvel Cinematic Universe. Mostly because they have held the majority of the market share in this area for over a decade at this point, with an interconnected saga of films that climaxed in Avengers: Endgame, and is currently fizzling out in phase 4, 5, or whatever number we’re technically on at this point.
DC attempted to compete against Marvel, but through a variety of massive mistakes, have wound up creating a house of cards in its capital casino that has already collapsed on itself. Now many a studio has to create their own “cinematic universe”, from superheroes to horror films to even that weird thing M. Night Shyamalan was attempting to do.
Yet, there was a time before “cinematic universes”. A time when films had to stand on their own merit, without relying on cameos and interconnections from other, better films. Well, that period was the 90s and early 2000s, and in a fit of nostalgia, I decided to binge some 90s movies. Top of the list that was recommended to me was “Blade”. And now I know why.
Summon the Vampire God
Before there was “Black Panther” pretending it invented black superheroes, there was Blade. A man born of a woman bitten by a Vampire, who died during childbirth. This unique circumstance was enough to create Blade: A human / vampire hybrid who possesses all the superpowers without the weaknesses, except one.
He thirsts for blood. Using a special serum to stave off the hunger, invented by a compatriot, Blade uses his superhuman abilities to hunt the denizens of the night, and purge the world of their evil.
The Vampires aren’t taking this lying down- at least, not all of them. In comes the upstart Deacon Frost, a human-turned-vampire who pushes for radical action to assert Vampires at the top of the food chain. He doesn’t care at all about humanity, who he sees as food, nor for the “pureblood” vampires who are hundreds of years older than him.
The Vampires at the top face a war on two fronts: Blade, killing them from the outside, and Deacon Frost, killing them from the inside. The two go head to head as Blade races to uncover and thwart Frost’s plan before he can unleash it.
Meanwhile, blade interrupts a Vampire drinking at a hospital, and takes pity on the bitten doctor. Instead of putting her out of her misery, Blade takes her in – both to save her… and use her for his own ends.
The Writing
Blade is a, uh, competently written movie. Its plot is certainly out of a comic book, where our hero goes up against an evil villain to save the world. Very Superhero stuff. That’s about it, however. There are no deeper themes, no shades of gray, or moral quandaries. You are either on Team Vampire or Team Humanity, and humans on Team Vampire are fair game.
Its kind of refreshing to have such a straightforward premise, compared to the constant “nuance” of villains like Thanos, Joker, Killmonger, and whatever the heck “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” was trying to say. Deacon Frost’s entire scheme is, “I’m better than humans. I eat humans. I should rule the world.” Yup, he’s the bad guy.
An interesting thing I noticed is that he never once turns on his own minions- not his vampiric ones, at least. There’s a tense scene where he demands one of them to stick out his arm, as if Frost intends to cut it off ala Peter Pettigrew style, then says, “Nah, just f-ing with you man.” And that was it. He never cut off the arm, because, you know, the dude was actually his friend. How many villains in these kinds of films actually get to have friends?
Oh, and there’s the woman Blade takes in. Her name is Karen Jenson. Initially, it seems like she’s going to become the love interest of the film, but the movie doesn’t go that route. Instead, it lets her character stand on her own as a resourceful doctor.
Using movie magic science, she invents both a more powerful serum for Blade and a drug that can kill Vampires. There’s also a cool scene where she’s locked in a room with a Zombie by herself, and she fights her way out without Blade’s help. As far as sidekicks go, she’s one of the more competent ones that isn’t just “main character but slightly worse at their job”. Looking at you, Bat-family.
Special Effects
“Blade” is a wild mix of straight up awesome and incredibly stupid. Where it shines are the fight scenes, when Blade gets to go ham on a bunch of Vampires. The choreography is fairly good- not “The Matrix” level good, but it’s fun enough to watch.
However, where this film really starts to show its age is in the special effects. Vampires disintegrating, certain blood effects, and other supernatural stuff (basically, anything that relies on CGI) looks like… well, a 90s video game.
One thing that I will say is really good is the practical effects, mostly. Some of the creature effects look really good, and they are gross in a fun way. Vampires, zombies, and… whatever the fat thing in the basement is, all have a visceral disgust factor that CGI rarely gets across, even nowadays.
Sound Design
This is easily the area I despise most about this film. Not because any of the specific sound effects are bad, but because this movie subscribes to the Christopher Nolan school of Sound Design two decades before that became a thing: EVERYTHING IS SUPER LOUD EXCEPT FOR talking which I can barely hear. Watching this movie is a constant game with the remote to turn up the volume during dialogue, and turning it down again when the swords and guns come out.
Its. So. Annoying. Its a pet peeve of mine that movies everywhere just can’t seem to get right. Most are okay. Some, like Blade, are truly awful. You either blast your ear drums out, or don’t understand what’s happening, and the fact that one hundred years of filmmaking experience hasn’t taught all directors how to do this properly is absurd.
Conclusion
Overall, “Blade” is very much a shut-your-brain-off-and-have-fun kind of movie. If you overanalyze the plot, the choreography, the dialogue, or the sound effects, you’ll be left lacking. However, this movie is not trying to be smart or say anything in particular. It’s an action-flick through and through, and if you treat it as such, you can have a lot of fun.
Unlike a certain other film about an African superhero I could name, “Blade” does not try to pander, doesn’t try to preach, and certainly doesn’t try to make the audience feel guilty about anything. This movie is here to entertain, and anything beyond that is the audience reaching for things on their own.
And that’s absolutely fine by me.