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| Rated: R |
2002 |
Color |
108 mins |
| Starring:
Wesley Snipes, Kris
Kristofferson, Norman Reedus, Leonor Varela, Ron Perlman, Tcheky
Karyo |
| Directed
by: Guillermo del
Toro |
| Written
by: David
S. Goyer |
| Movie
Co.: New Line |
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Critique
Section
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HugeReviews.com's
Official Rating System:
Pathetic
Wimpy
Solid Super
HUGE
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| HugeReviews.com's
Reviews |
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| Movie
Stills: Photos |
Links |
Awards |
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The Blade II Store
| VHS
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DVD
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Soundtrack
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DVD The 1st movie
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The
Books
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Comic Book by Marvel
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HugeReviews.com Reviews:
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Buffy
Who? Blade II
by Michael Flanagan
Super
I’m trying to think of another sequel that I’ve
seen that I thought was 150% better than the original, and yet still
love the original as its own great movie.
And with the exception of Blade II, I can’t come up with
a one. Blade II
takes the wit, charm, downright coolness, and bloodbaths of the
original, cranks it all up to speaker-blowing levels, and then, just
when you get used to absorbing it all without headphones, it cranks it
up even more.
The credit for this magnificent triumph of a
horror-genre sequel that rocks goes to director Guillermo del Toro, with
a very close second place medal to writer David S. Goyer.
Together, they take Wesley Snipes’ Blade, open him up like a
can, and let him, frankly, kick ass throughout the entire length of the
film. He takes off his
shades, he smiles, he kisses, and yes, he quips.
And oh those quips…Whistler is back, and it’s not even
cringe-worthy. They pull
off the oldest and least-liked trick in Hollywood, but they do it
seamlessly, so that his return is so much a part of the second movie as
it is the first that you have to nod in acceptance, if you have the
time. |
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Which, what with the hundreds of crawling
vampires-classical and the vampires-vaginafaces, and then there’s the
Blood Pack, Blade, and Whistler, all of whom are armed with all kinds of
sharp, bright, and/or piercing objects that are all used in this
movie, you may not have a moment to take a breath.
I counted two “slow” spots in the movie, but these areas are
only slow in comparison to the speed of the editing and beauty of the
filmmaking that’s flashed across the screen in shadow and bursts of
blue, orange, and, well, red.
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| And this movie has horror.
The first Blade had violence—good, fun, wholesome
violence—and it was perfect for a vampire-hunter movie.
But Del Toro went back and threw in some classic horror, using
the oldest and newest tricks you can find.
In the first hunt of the Blood Pack, Del Toro used curtains and
loud jump cuts to scare you out of your seat, and this combined with the
sudden gothic setting that the ironwork nightclub once was, it becomes a
great scary movie, a vampire movie of old, and the Reavers, the
vaginafaced, pale white brilliance of this sequel, are walking,
breathing reminders of Nosferatu.
Del Toro knows his history, and he uses it like a bow as he plays
the audience that he also knows inside and out.
In one of the opening scenes, there’s Freddy Kreuger’s glove;
the Reaver hunt through the sewers includes not only the feel, but the
actual sounds of Aliens; and the conclusion of the film pulls out
all the best aspects of Frankenstein, throws in some wrestling
moves, adds a little kick-ass Ron Perlman, and ends it with a little bit
of Romeo & Juliet.
What by all standards of Hollywood should have been
a decent film at best is now one of the best horror sequels I’ve ever
seen, if not the best, and one Hell of a ride on its own. |
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DVD The 1st movie
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DVD Blade 2
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DVD
If you like the movie, you'll want
this DVD. It has great background info about the movie.
I enjoyed the commentary, but most of all, this is differently a
re-watchable movie.
We've had 2 movie parties where we backed to back Blade and
Blade II. Everyone had a great time, and some even stayed
to watch commentary after some of the others left.
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| Awards
& Nominations: IMdb |
Full
Cast & Credits: IMdb |
| Links:
Official
Site, |
The Rumor Mill &
Trivia Section: IMdb
Do you have any trivia or rumors you'd like to
share?
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