Blade 3: Trinity Review
by Homer Yen (homer_yen AT yahoo DOT com)December 16th, 2004
Blade: Trinity – "Bite Me"
by Homer Yen
(c) 2004
Ok now, get ready for the groan-inducing cliches that describe just how bad this film is. Ready?
As a vampire film, this sucks! What's the point of "Blade"? We're at the third installment, and this "Blade" is dull!
Wesley Snipes still looks heroically menacing as the titular character. And he still moves vigorously in his ongoing quest to vanquish the Vampire Nation. But his vigilante ways and his snarling demeanor can only interest an audience for so long. After seeing our daylight-immune Vampire in two previous "Blade" films, the filmmakers need to find another way to keep us involved. But no such luck exists in this film.
The entire enterprise seems like an exercise that overreaches and underwhelms.
Now, I liked the first two films. They had an inspiring comic-book look that gave our hero an appropriate, otherworldly feel. And at least the other two films had an engaging storyline to keep us moving along. However, "Blade: Trinity" is just a mess. It barely amounts to a story. In fact, the premise seems so flimsy that even the actors seem unconvinced in their delivery. I'm thinking that the director might have had to remind everyone to deliver his or her lines with a straight face. It certainly sounded funny when the words came out of their mouths.
In this latest installment, Blade faces a new and more powerful enemy (Dominic Purcell). This creature is believed to be the first Vampire of his kind, the progenitor of his race. So perfect is he that he is stronger that Blade and even immune to sunlight and most other weapons that would kill vampires.
Perhaps Blade can not defeat him and his minions by himself. Along to help is a motley crew of warriors and misfits. The leaders include Abigail (Jessica Biel), a leather-clad, bow and arrow wielding girl-warrior who arms herself with silver-nitrate infused arrows. This causes unlucky vampires that are struck by them to implode into a pile of ashes much like if sunlight were to hit them. Another character who offers funny quips as well as roundhouse kicks is Hannibal (Ryan Reynolds), who was once a vampire himself, but now follows a career track similar to Blade's.
These helpers are only slightly more effective than the film, which pulsates with very little energy. The film is strung together by uninspiring events so that lots of people can fight and shoot at one another. The movie forgoes character development and the action sequences are okay but not original. As a result, the film's momentum plateaus very early on, and you begin to start twitching in your seat hoping for the final act to get here. You also wonder why the team just doesn't use the UV Light Bomb from the previous film to eradicate the Vampire minions, instead of resorting to some untested pathogenic weapon that has to be administered in some ridiculous way.
"Blade: Trinity" seems like a rushed and unnecessary project. It's not really any fun to watch. None of the characters are all that interesting. The sets and the battle choreography seemed recycled from previous films or WWE programs. It doesn't course with blood.
It lacks teeth. It's missing everything that a vampire should have.
Grade: C-
S: 1 out of 3
L: 3 out of 3
V: 3 out of 3
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