Cutting crew

I really didn’t go into this expecting much. The first Blade wasn’t intolerable, although it was noteworthy only for casting the infamous Traci Lords as a bloodsucker and then giving her less than a minute of screen time. Blade II at least looked good (as it should have, being helmed by Hellboy‘s Guillermo del Toro), but Wesley Snipes was beginning to get a little too into the role, with his newly gained status as the franchise’s producer becoming more evident with iconic posturing. However, with Blade: Trinity the series is refreshed with the infusion of new—if not perplexing—blood.

Seems Blade’s relentless elimination of the vampire hordes has them concerned, so they mount an expedition to the Syrian Desert (or Iraq’s; they seem a bit confused as to the exact location) to resurrect Dracula himself. Seeming not at all happy with having his nap interrupted, he lurches about looking like a pre-production sketch for Predator until he sucks down a six-pack of humans and settles into human form.

When the feds lock down Blade for accidentally staking a human, Van Wilder and that chick from 7th Heaven (Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel) drop by to spring his sorry ass. Turns out that Biel and Reynolds are part of a band of high-tech vampire hunters eager to join forces with the bad boy. Blade doesn’t look too happy about this, in that it will cut down on his screen time—which is pretty much why Blade III works.

The lovely Biel handles herself adequately as the ass-kicking hellion, and Reynolds (after packing on 25 pounds of muscle) delivers with the one-liners in a properly droll manner. Snipes sulks about as usual. Also on hand is be-fanged indie darling Parker Posey as a caricature of herself, flailing about awkwardly and snarling her lines like she has a bean up her nose. Call it camp or call it embarrassing, mileage may vary.

First-time director David S. Goyner (also scribe of all three of the series) does a commendable job of keeping the action exciting and the dialogue amusing and has a keen eye for matching the mise en scène of the comic books.

Blade: Trinity is relatively bloodless for an R-rated movie (raw language and a Dracula dildo).