Review of Blade II (2002) by Matthew D — 22 Jul 2018

Slicker and better put together than its predecessor but missing a lot of what made it work. It's more original in structure than Blade, which was cut with the Hollywood cookie cutter, but using that familiar structure allowed it to be successful when it built off it in outrageous ways and subvert it.

Its female lead may have seemed pandering to that formula, but she provided an in for the audience and guided us through the anarchy. Here we just have Blade himself, who doesn't allow us in to his world and therefore the emotional underpinnings are gone.

The character moments that stopped the first film being action all the time and kept your investment you through the low points are gone and the sequel even goes as far as to immediately undo its most resonant scene.

It doesn't have the director Del Toro's usual charm either, and while the returning cast is still good, and Ron Perlman is as entertaining as always, the other players are various shades of dull.

It's unclear if Blade II has lost the craziness that made the first film so enjoyable or whether, because it lacks a grounding to make it stand out, it simply washes over the viewer without effect, but the result is that it feels like the series has lost its soul.