HAMSTER RATING: 3/5 pellets
Written and Directed by DAVID S. GOYER
Stunning action sequences, fast-paced storytelling and a thrilling musical score--and that
was just during the preshow commercials. All 10 minutes of them, plus the next fifteen of the
coming attractions. Sheesh. My soda was practically gone before Blade: Trinity even
got started. But for a $5 movie ticket, I'm not going to gripe too much. Besides, the wait
was well worth it.
Trinity is, of course, the last entry in the Blade trilogy, based on the
Marvel Comics half-vampire, half-human, sword-wielding vampire hunter. In the first movie,
Blade vanquished the vampire blood god La Magra, and in the second installment, he actually
teamed up with the bloodsuckers to battle the hordes of dangerously mutated vampires known as
the Reapers. This time around, Wesley Snipes dons the tattoos and sunglasses to face off
against the progenitor of the entire vampire line, the grandaddy of them all--Dracula, or as
he is known here, Drake (played by Dominic Purcell). Along for the ride is Kris
Kristofferson, briefly reprising his role as Blade's stringy-haired mentor Abraham Whistler,
along with vampire hunter newbies Jessica Biel, who plays Whistler's daughter Abigail, and
Ryan Reynolds as a former vampire named Hannibal King. Parker Posey also makes an impression
as the evil and style-challenged vamp Danica Talos, and Triple H (Paul Michael Levesque) also
appears in vampire form.
"It's good!"
In David Goyer's tightly constructed story, the trouble starts when Danica and her cronies
revive bad boy shape-shifting Drake, whose blood will finally enable them to exist in
daylight. Meanwhile, they set Blade up to kill a human in view of the public, which gets him
very unwanted attention from the FBI. A few explosions later, Blade is under arrest and
Whistler has gone to that big machine shop in the sky. As the vampires who have infiltrated
the FBI attempt to take down Blade once and for all, in bust Abigail and Hannibal, who help
Blade escape. Back at their headquarters, they explain to him that they are part of a group
of human vampire hunters known as the Nightstalkers. They tell Blade of the vampire's plans
with Drake and present their solution: a bioweapon developed by the Nightstalker's blind
science chick, Sommerfield (Natasha Lyonne) that will take out every vampire in a wide area as
soon as it comes in contact with Drake's DNA. In the meantime, they also have lots of fun new
vampire-killin' toys to play with, including a laser light-generating, arc-shaped thing "half
as hot as the sun" (which I sincerely hope is an exaggeration for Abigail's sake, considering
she straps the thing to her back for safe keeping), as well as a super-fast bow and the
typical arsenal of exploding bullets and a variety of guns in which to load them. So armored,
Blade, Hannibal and Abigail confront Danikca, Drake and hordes of vampire fodder in a sequence
of stunt-laden chases and fights that occur every few minutes throughout the movie's length.
The attention-deficit pacing of the film leaves no time for anything more than token
character development, and the busy plot prevents the narrative from bogging down in
scientific jabber and explanations of vampire lore like those in the first two films. Abigail
is the sexy, belly-baring superchick, Hannibal fills the role of the wise-cracking sidekick,
Drake is the ultimate evil (who speaks perfect English despite millenia under the sands of
Iraq), and Blade, of course, is the strong and silent (but frequently smart-mouthed) hero.
It's all very formulaic and it works for a straight-up action movie, but the sacrifice is that
a lot of the intelligence and introspection of the comic book gets replaced by wacky science
and cliched plot devices. As a result, it's hard to feel terribly involved with any of the
characters and most of the sequences intended to create suspense and horror fall short.
Mostly, Trinity is a fun action flick made from the usual recipe of funny one-liners
and casually gruesome violence. As a sequel, it exchanges the brooding suspense of the first
film for a more lighthearted mood, but manages to keep most of its sophistication intact,
something Guillermo del Toro's Blade II wasn't quite able to achieve. Still, there's
clearly no deeper meaning or noble purpose in this hour and 46 minute orgy of nifty effects,
snappy dialogue and predictable action. So, as long as you're not looking for anything beyond
theatrical instant gratification, Blade: Trinity is $5 well-spent.
"I always enjoy these little constitutionals of ours, wot, wot."
