It seems to me that a lot of people don't know that Blade is actually a superhero movie on par with X-Men, Daredevil, Punisher and the likes. What all these heroes (and in the case of X-Men, hero group) have in common is that they were all conceived in the magical world of Marvel. Blade was originally a normal person (in a blue outfit) who chased vampires because of a personal grudge and eventually faced off with Dracula himself. He was, for lack of a better term, boring. So boring, in fact, that the character was shelved and never used in the Marvel cine-verse. Then the latter half of 1998 came along...
David S. Goyer performed a stroke of genius when he took the character of Blade and turned him into a leather-clad dark knight. He can't take all the credit though and much of this must go to Stephen Norrington as well, who with his distinct visual style brings out the best of the character. The Blade character (Wesley Snipes) is pretty amazing in this film and mixes martial arts with Batman-like brooding. Snipes is pretty good as the titular character and is successful in bringing out the duality and inner demons of the Day Walker. He is, however, a pretty rigid actor both in voice and in posture and is only interesting enough for the length of one film (which can be attested by the two sequels). Kris Kristofferson is good as well and really brings the tormented character of Whistler to life with energy and a surprising sense of timing. N'Bushe Wright, however, is fairly weak as a leading lady, making her character relatively flat and lifeless. Donal Logue is pretty funny and manages to do a lot with a minor character. German-born Udo Kier should also be mentioned as he brings a lot of finesse and style to the vampire race, probably born of his experiences from playing Dracula. Stephen Dorf provides the best acting in the film and his chilling performance as Deacon Frost stands as one of the best graphic novel villans, ranking right up there with Heath Ledger's Joker.
The story is good and, I feel, renews the vampire genre (something that hasn't been done since...well, who am I kidding? Up until these films, it hasn't been done) by adding a lot of contemporary elements and maintaining the comic book feel. By saying that the film has a "comic book" feel does not mean that the film is unrealistic. Far from it! A lot of effort has been put in trying to make the film seem as real as possible. This does include the effects which are pretty good for their time. Indeed, it was this film that introduced the world to the concept of "Bullet Time," which The Matrix then capitalized on a year later. I found the vampire "dustings" to be a very nice touch. Rather than adding a lot of blood when a vampire expires, Norrington chose to let the vampires spontaneously combust which looks fantastic. The fact that the overall effects were well done adds to the credibility of the film, which would otherwise have fallen flat on its face.
As previously stated Norrington has a very distinct visual style that sets him apart from the directors of the two Blade sequels. Del Toro is nearly as skilled but I prefer Norrington's style. His style gives the film a very special look and feel but most importantly it gives the film atmosphere. A very tense, dark atmosphere which works great--keeping in step both with the brooding of Blade, as well as the heart of the story.
All in all Blade is a very entertaining movie that should have garnered much more recognition than it gained in its original theatrical run. However, a few annoying flaws (which cannot be revealed without spoiling the movie. Suffice to say, many of them are located near the end of the film) do weaken the pace of the film near its ending. To all my fellow comic-book followers, this remains a bloody good time.
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