Hey folks, Harry here with our first report from the test screening of Guillermo Del Toro's BLADE 2 which unspooled in Redondo Beach, CA. If you talk to people at New Line or with Avi Arad, you'll hear giddy sorts of enthusiastic praise for this film. I'm eager to hear from as many of you that attended this screening as possible as I'm genuinely curious and excited to hear as much as I can about Guillermo's latest flick. Word has it that Avi Arad is out to get him to direct another of Marvel's 'horror' themed properties. Personally I hope he takes on David Goyer's GHOST RIDER script... It is an incredible screenplay, the best that Goyer has written that I have had the opportunity to read. And from the sound of this review, his work on BLADE 2 was quite wonderful... but let us hear what the one who has seen it says....
Hey Harry,
I caught an advance screening of BLADE 2 tonight at the Pacific Theaters in Redondo Beach, CA. The title of the film was kept secret to the audience until about two minutes before the start of the movie when some guy stood up in front of the crowd to tell us that we were the first people to see this flick and that some elements weren't finished yet and yadda, yadda, yadda... you know the drill! Anyway, I really enjoyed the first film and found BLADE 2 to be a surprisingly good follow up (there's so much to like in this one).
The movie is set in Czech Republic and begins with Blade chasing down his old pal Whistler. It seems that a group of vampires has been keeping the undead Whistler alive in a storage tank for a few years, feeding off of his blood whenever they choose. Blade kills a few bad guys in a spectacular fight scene, rescues his friend and injects him with an anti-virus that returns him to his human state. The two don't even have a chance to catch up on old times when two bad ass ninja Vamps break into their stronghold to deliver a message from the Vampire Nation (shadowy organization of bloodsuckers run by a Nosferatu looking guy named Damiskinos). It turns out that the bloodsuckers need Blade to help them defeat a new enemy that threatens their existence... a new strain of Vampires known as The Reapers, vampires who feed on vampires.
Blade is forced to side with the Bloodpack, a team of vampire assassins who were originally trained to hunt the Daywalker. These guys are wicked cool warriors led by a vamp named Reinhardt (played by the always reliable Ron Perlman) and boy, do they deliver the goods! We're talking moves and weapons that are equal to the one man arsenal known as Blade. Anyway, the story follow this unit of ultimate bad asses hunting down the Reapers in the city of Prague (a very dark and decayed world that feels like something out of Batman). I guess I'll stop telling you about the movie from here... considering there are many plot twists and other surprises in store for you when it is released. I will say that I enjoyed the film a hell of a lot! It is an extremely well made horror film,... that's right... it's a HORROR FILM BABY!!! There was some seriously scary shit going on in this movie, way more gruesome imagery than in the first flick.
The action was first rate with Blade kicking the shit out of anybody who so much as looked at him funny. The Bloodpack kicked ass (literally) and the Reapers were the scariest things to hit the screen in a long time (think bald headed albino vampires crossed with the Predator). Overall decent acting and some really funny lines and situations sprinkled throughout (Blade bitch slapping Reinhardt was classic). I loved the special effects (which were not all completed) including some of the CGI "jump" scenes and the Reapers nasty mouth work. Basically, if you enjoyed the first film you will probably go crazy over this one. It delivers!
Call me Nimblefoot.
