There was a time, kids, before the MCU. Before Robert Downey Jr. was Iron Man. Before Hugh Jackman had adamantium claws. Before Tobey Maguire was swinging around New York.
Marvel movies were NOT guaranteed billion-dollar events. In fact, getting a Marvel character onto the big screen without the whole thing turning into complete cinematic arse was something of an achievement.
Then, in 1998, along came BLADE.
And I still feel people forget this is a Marvel movie. No colourful cape. No winking cameos setting up another nineteen films. Just Wesley Snipes, dressed head-to-toe in black leather, walking into a nightclub full of vampires and absolutely ruining everybody’s evening.
Beautiful.
Directed by Stephen Norrington and written by David S. Goyer, Blade asks: what if we made a vampire horror movie, a martial arts movie, a gun-heavy action movie AND a comic book movie at the same time?
Apparently the answer is: it would RULE.
Blade, AKA Eric Brooks (Wesley Snipes), is a “Daywalker” – born with the strengths of a vampire, but without most of their weaknesses. He can walk in sunlight, heal quickly and kick seven shades of hell out of almost anything.
The catch? He still has the vampire thirst for blood.
He spends his nights hunting vampires alongside grizzled mentor and weaponsmith Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), while young vampire Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) plans a takeover involving an ancient blood god. Caught in the middle is Dr Karen Jenson (N’Bushe Wright), a haematologist bitten during one of Blade’s hunts who begins searching for a cure before she turns.
But before ANY of that really matters, Blade delivers one of the most unforgettable opening sequences of the 90s.
A human bloke gets taken to an underground nightclub and thinks his evening is going VERY well. Then the sprinklers turn on.
BLOOD.
Blood pours from the ceiling over hundreds of dancing vampires as the poor bastard realises he has made an EXTREMELY poor dating decision.
Techno hammering. Bodies everywhere. Absolute chaos.
Then Blade walks in.
Wesley Snipes stands there silently in black leather and sunglasses with that magnificent expression that says, “I am about to beat the living crap out of every single one of you.”
And then he does.
Guns. Swords. Martial arts. Vampires exploding into skeletons and ash.
WELCOME TO BLADE.
The reason the rest of the film works is embarrassingly simple:
WESLEY. FREAKING. SNIPES.
There are actors who play comic book characters and there are actors who completely consume them. Wesley Snipes IS Blade. The physicality. The voice. The sunglasses. The little smirk.
More importantly, Snipes could actually MOVE.
Blade lets you see the choreography – kicks, spins, swords, wide shots and actual physical ability rather than seventy cuts disguising an actor who learned karate last Tuesday.
WHAT A CONCEPT.
Kris Kristofferson is equally perfect as Whistler, while Stephen Dorff’s Deacon Frost is a bloody entertaining villain who basically responds to vampire classism by staging a hostile corporate takeover with a BLOOD GOD.
Visually, Blade still looks great. It has that grimy late-90s industrial style I absolutely love – concrete, stainless steel, dark streets, leather and flickering lights. Add techno, breakbeats and industrial music and the whole movie sounds like a nightclub underneath a JB Hi-Fi in 1998.
I LOVE IT.
The practical effects hold up surprisingly well. The CGI, however…
Oh boy.
Some of the finale looks like somebody inserted a PlayStation cutscene into the movie. But I can forgive it.
Blade arrived before X-Men and Spider-Man and proved a Marvel character could carry a successful film before “MARVEL” itself was the selling point.
It didn’t invent the modern superhero movie, but it absolutely helped kick the door open – covered in vampire blood.
Blade is a comic book movie with teeth. Literally.
8.5/10
James J