Blade: Trinity

Jessica Biel, Wesley Snipes and Ryan Reynolds in Blade: Trinity.

Although the Blade movies have always pitted its half-man/half-vampire hero against vampires, they've never fit very well into the traditional gothic vampire genre. Instead, they go for all out action, with characters who have less depth than those in a really bad video game. Blade Trinity, which tantalizes us with the prospect of the being the last in the series, fails to alter this formula.

Perhaps knowing that these movies are for their core fan base and not newcomers, the producers of this film jump right into the story without any explanation of who Blade is or what the world he lives in is like. The plot, for those who are interested, (although if you're interested in that sort of thing, you shouldn't be watching this movie anyway) revolves around the vampires digging up the original vampire, Count Dracula himself, who was buried in the Iraqi desert for reasons unexplained, with the hopes that he will both kill their archenemy Blade and somehow help the vampires evolve. It's up to Blade of course, with the help of a group of human vampire hunters, to stop these things from happening.

Snipes reprises the lead role and is even stiffer and more robotic that he was in the earlier films; all attempts to give him depth of character having been abandoned after the first movie. Only once or twice does he do anything even slightly emotive. These movies must be the easiest paychecks he's ever earned. All he has to do is keep a straight face and match his side of the stunt work with the stuntmen. Although, come to think of it, keeping a straight face during the filming of these movies might not be so easy.

There are some new faces this time around, including Jessica Biel and Ryan Reynolds as his new vampire hunting sidekicks. Biel is a pale shade of The Matrix's Trinity character, but Reynolds, at least, provides the movie with some much-needed comic relief. And speaking of comic relief, Parker Posey (who must have lost a bet to appear in this movie) goes completely over the top as the villainous vampire in charge of resurrecting Dracula.

With the action being the only thing this movie has to offer, you'd expect that it would be good, but you'd be wrong. It's all of the vanilla, generic type that we've seen a million times in the past. There are no “Whoa!" moments of any kind and also zero amount of tension, since this time around, not even Blade's sunglasses get damaged.

Only the biggest fans of the series or the most forgiving will find anything to enjoy about this one.

Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel in Blade: Trinity.

Although not as good as the first Blade movie, Blade Trinity is better than Blade II. The additions of Biel and Reynolds are a definite plus. Biel is hot and Reynolds, as Scott wrote, breaths some nice comic air into this very dry franchise. My favorite line of his is when he is being interrogated by the vampires he tells them, "I eat a lot of garlic and I just farted. Silent but deadly."

The addition of the Nightstalkers accomplishes two things. It adds some new life to the series but it shows that Blade's charm, or complete lack there of, is not enough to carry it. Snipes does more posing in this moving than actual acting.

The absolute worst aspect of this movie is the use of Dracula, or Drake as he is called in this movie. You would think that the most ancient vampire would be intelligent, powerful and a bit suave. Purcell plays him like an ignorant brute. This all powerful vampire runs from Blade and his big brave move is to snatch a baby and then a little girl. Ooooh, he is so very, very scary. I wonder if Blade can handle this big bad vampire that kills a blind woman and kidnaps children?