Blade: Trinity (2004) or, The Vampire Ass-Kicker 3

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Star Wesley Snipes looks bad-ass and is accompanied by two attractive younger stars on this poster for David S. Goyer's Blade: Trinity

'The Daywalker' is again necessary to protect humans, as Dracula and a mass of vampires go for the jugular, this time in a new alliance with two human vampire hunters.

 

Blade: Trinity is written, co-produced and directed by David S. Goyer (Zig Zag (2002)). It is the third and last in the Blade trilogy, based on the Marvel character. Goyer had written the two previous films from 1998 and 2002.

 

The budding Blade franchise dies with the third Blade-film, thus instead forming a trilogy, to some degree due to the limited directorial abilities of Goyer.
The atmosphere, coolness, wild special effects and music-related strengths of the first Blade in particular are gone completely in Trinity, where instead we get new characters that are better described as fighting underwear models, machine guns and a Dracula, who looks like is costumed to resemble, bizarrely, a butch drag queen:

Terrible costumes in Blade: Trinity - especially for Dominic Purcell's (Abandoned (2015)) 'Drag-ula' here

Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds (Free Guy (2021))) and Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel (Hitchcock (2012)) are the new, hunky vampire hunters. The former with an endless string of 'comedic' lines. Not once did they make me even smile. The shallow newcomers are mixed with a hodgepodge of comedic actors and a former wrestler as if to perfect the confusion.
The following story is paper-thin, and it is a sorry end to something that started off so well in 1998.
Parker Posey (Kicking and Screaming (1995)) is one of the only light points of Trinity in a hot vampire role. Below is a look at her 'subtle' acting in the flick.

 

Related posts:

Blade trilogy: Blade II (2002) or, The Vampire Ass-Kicker 2

Blade (1998) or, The Vampire Ass-Kicker
David S. Goyer: Man of Steel (2013) or, Superman v Zod: Sunset of Destruction (writer)

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) or, Batman and the Storm, Darkness, Anarchy, Evil, Depression (writer)

The Dark Knight (2008) - Nolan's best Batman (story contribution)

Batman Begins (2005) or, Modern, Dark, Smooth Batman (writer) 

Blade II (2002) or, The Vampire Ass-Kicker 2 (writer) 

Blade (1998) or, The Vampire Ass-Kicker (writer) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watch a short teaser for the film here

Cost: 65 mil. $
Box office: 131.9 mil. $
= Flop (returned 2.02 times its cost)

[Blade: Trinity premiered 7 December (Hollywood) and runs 113 minutes. Snipes was paid 13 mil. $ for his performance in the film. Shooting took place from September 2003 - January 2004 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Montreal, Quebec and in Toronto, Ontario. Before, during and after the production, problems were rife, especially stemming from Snipes being dissatisfied with co-stars, the director and other aspects of the film. Reports of racial slurs (from Snipes), unprofessional behavior, one instance of violence against Goyer and marijuana use during production were shared with the media. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release Ocean's Twelve, to a 16.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5), grossing 52.4 mil. $ (39.7 % of the total gross. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 12.9 mil. $(9.8 %) and Germany with 10.3 mil. $ (7.8 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 1.5/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Snipes was later sued by his agency for failing to pay their commission of his salary. And he sued New Line Cinema for breach of contract and racism in a 5 mil. $ suit that was eventually settled out of court. Goyer later reflected; “I don’t think anyone involved in that film had a good experience on that film, certainly I didn’t. I don’t think anybody involved with that film is happy with the results. It was a very tortured production.” Marvel has regained the rights to the character and is working on a new movie starring Mahershala Ali as Blade. Goyer returned with Threshold (2005, TV-series), Snow Patrol: You're All I Have (2006, music video) and theatrically with The Invisible (2007). Snipes returned in 7 Seconds (2005, video), The Marksman (2005, video) and theatrically in Chaos (2005). Blade: Trinity is rotten at 24 % with a 4.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Blade: Trinity?

Blade II (2002) or, The Vampire Ass-Kicker 2

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+ Best Monster Movie of the Year

Intense-looking, black-dressed Wesley Snipes flashes his long sword on the poster for Guillermo del Toro's Blade II

The vampires have shifted around in their power structure, and a new, threatening virus is out. Half-human/half-vampire Blade aka 'the Daywalker' will have to go vampire-berserk once again to put things straight!

 

Blade II is written by David S. Goyer (Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)) and directed by great Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (Cronos (1992)). It is the 2nd film in the Blade trilogy, coming after Blade (1989) and before Blade: Trinity (2004), based on the Marvel Comics character.
Del Toro has made the sequel to Stephen Norrington's amazing first film very worth watching, - and yet it is far from the originality that made the first movie so special. Blade II is clearly a post-Matrix (1999) action film for better and for worse: Blade flies around now, and a good deal of innovative gore effects have been pushed out to make room for fight scenes. - A lot of fight scenes!
The visuals are less red and atmospheric, but there are still incredible sets; the sewers, the vampire castle and the house of pain. (Nice work by production designer Carol Spier (Eastern Promises (2007)).)

Wesley Snipes (Drop Zone (1994)) still slays vampires with a steely expression, but the new cast also includes a few welcome fresh faces: Ron Perlman (Drive (2011)) is a human, Nazi-reminiscent vampire-killer, and Thomas Kretschmann (The Pianist (2002)) is the new vampire lord.
But perhaps the most memorable thing about Blade II is its new virus-plagued vampire monsters. These 'reapers' look seriously scary. Talk about cleft palate issues! (See evidence below)
The eclectic hiphop/rock/electronica pumping score (by Marco Beltrami (Deep Water (2022))) makes no real impression besides being loud, and the characters have less particulars and flesh (no pun intended) to them than in Blade. Lastly, the ending of Blade II is annoyingly sentimental, something that is often the case in del Toro's films.

 

Related posts:

 

Other Blade trilogy entries: Blade: Trinity (2004) or, The Vampire Ass-Kicker 3

Blade (1998) or, The Vampire Ass-Kicker
Guillermo del Toro: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) - Øvredal's ascent to big budget moviemaking gets by on weird horror sequences (co-writer)

The day after the day after ... the 2018 Oscars 

The Shape of Water (2017) - Toro's strange monster romance is mostly an amusing fantasy 
Pacific Rim (2013) or, The Monster Resistance
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) - Jackson's megalomania gives birth to the first third of an enormous fantasy whopper (co-writer) 
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2010) or, What Creeps in the Dark (co-writer) 
Julia's Eyes/Los Ojos de Julia (2010) - Decent Spanish horror with good craftsmanship, little else (co-producer) 

Pan's Labyrinth/El Laberinto del Fauno (2006) - Horrors of Franco era in Del Toro fantasy ride 

Hellboy (2004) - Del Toro's super-antihero is a tiring blast

2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

2001 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The Devil's Backbone/El Espinoza del Diablo (2001) - The excellent Gothic genre-mix that is Del Toro's best film so far

 

 

 

Watch a 5-minute clip from the film here

Cost: 54 mil. $
Box office: 155 mil. $
= Box office success (returned 2.87 times its cost)

[Blade II premiered 21 March (USA) and runs 117 minutes. Shooting took place from March - July 2001 in London, England, Toronto, Ontario and in Prague, Czech Republic. The film opened #1 to a 32.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#4-#5), grossing 82.3 mil. $ (53.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 13.1 mil. $ (8.5 %) and Germany with 10.3 mil. $ (6.6 %). Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Blade returned in Blade: Trinity (2004). Del Toro returned with Hellboy (2004). Snipes returned in Undisputed (2002). Blade II is rotten at 57 % with a 6.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Blade II?

Blade (1998) or, The Vampire Ass-Kicker

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+ Best Action Movie of the Year + Best Gore Movie of the Year + Best Superhero Movie of the Year + Best Vampire Movie of the Year

Star Wesley Snipes' back and eye-catching head tattoo is centered on this black-and-scarlet-hued poster for Stephen Norrington's Blade

Blade is the Daywalker, a vampire who quenches his blood-thirst medically in order to remain protector of the humans. He has to kill a lot of evil vampires from their secret, underground society, which is alive everywhere around us, as a young, fanatic leader now thinks that they should assume world domination.

 
Blade is written by David S. Goyer (The Unborn (2009)), based on the 1973 Marvel comics character created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, and directed by great British filmmaker Stephen Norrington (Death Machine (1994)).

Blade is a cool, cool film! Wesley Snipes (The Fan (1996)) is awesome as the suave, ass-kicking title character, and Stephen Dorff (Somewhere (2010)) is demonical as the villainous vamp with illusions of grandeur. The film is full of raw action, cool weapons and special effects, and a production design and visual concept of darkness and blood-red tones that really works.
The story is simple, but it holds water. The storyline and new action-packed take on vampires was very fresh in 1998, when vampires had not ravaged movies as unceasingly and long as is the case today.
Blade has many cool elements, like its euro-trance bloodbath in the beginning, or the immensely obese Pearl character, and its first and last 15 minutes are insanely innovative. The film is also refreshing as a superhero movie that doesn't have any sentimental romance attached to it, - and one that is bloody and disgusting as hell!

Related posts:

Stephen Norrington: Top 10: Best first-of-franchise movies
1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Top 10: The best action movies and TV-series reviewed by Film Excess to date 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 45 mil. $
Box office: 131.2 mil. $
= Box office success (returned 2.91 times its cost)

[Blade premiered 19 August (New York) and runs 120 minutes. Snipes was paid 8 mil. $ for his performance. Shooting took place from February - June 1997 in Moscow, Russia, London, England, Vancouver, British Columbia and in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #1 to a 17 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend at #1 and then another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#3), grossing 70 mil. $ (53.4 % of the total gross). Wolfman and Colan unsuccessfully sued New Line Cinema for 35 mil. $ in the film's wake. The film's success paved the way for more Marvel films: The company's only attempt previously had been the disastrous Howard the Duck (1986). Roger Ebert gave Blade a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. The film spun a franchise, which also encompasses Blade II (2002) and Blade Trinity (2004), all with Snipes and Goyer's involvement. Marvel is rebooting the franchise in a 2023 movie with Mahershala Ali taking over the character. Norrington returned with The Last Minute (2001). Snipes returned in Futuresport (1998, TV movie ) and theatrically in Play It to the Bone (1999); Dorff in Earthly Possessions (1999, TV movie) and theatrically in Entropy (1999). Blade is rotten at 57 % with a 5.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 
What do you think of Blade?