Blade: Trinity (2004)
Where it began so it shall end.
Well, here it is. Episode 500, if you will. I feel like at this point it’s expected of me to come in with some big announcement about how I’ll be going on a sabbatical, or how I’m so rich and famous that I couldn’t possible get around to as steady an update, or how family life is taking higher priorities. 500 times I’ve come here after watching a movie and pumped out words, typos, and images for an audience, no matter how imaginary (and profit of net turn around negative Squarespace yearly renewal fees). I think instead though, it’s suitable to say that much like the pitch contained within this movie (regardless of how it went franchise-wise), we are just getting started. Tonight we finish the trilogy of that bad vampire-busting man with Blade: Trinity.
We continue on our adventures in the life of Blade, vampire killer extraordinaire. Fun fact here is that once again you don’t need to really have watched any of the past ones - any backwards reference here is pretty much self-contained. Unfortunately for Blade though, the vampires have decided to really bring out some heavy guns to deal with their day-walking opponent: Dracula himself. Yep, that’s right - they go through all the trouble of finding the legendary first vampire and waking him up to join their cause and fix their problem. Just to be safe however, they also have a nice little sting operation going on to launch a smear campaign against Blade, making it look like he’s a mass murdering serial killer. The increased pressure and enemies closing on all sides causes Blade to have to team up with some fellow hunters who have a secret weapon they’ve been working on.
It’s a good story, and provides for plenty of fun new elements. We get a squad of enemies who could be threatening on their own, a group of goodies to counterpart them, and then of course someone to rival blade with the original immortal himself. This gives plenty of room on both sides to find characters you like - as they almost all have a personality of some sort to feed off of, even if character development isn’t specifically at the forefront for them. That said, some of them do get really decent history elements to them to build up their character, so even if it doesn’t feel like there’s any large swatches of characters moving forward and becoming better people you still get the enjoyment of them feeling like they are more than just expendable fodder. True enough, some are fodder, but it’s worth pointing out that some are a bit more than that.
The actors do a good job here as well. Blade can be his typical over-the-top somewhat aloof self at times, but the acting has certainly not gone downhill as the franchise has carried on. The side characters all have plenty of time to get some good lines or actions in, with a good range from also over the top to playing it straight and emotional, all the way over to Ryan Reynolds being Ryan Reynolds. Yep, that’s right - he’s here doing what everyone knows him for best. The movie, in turn if you hadn’t been able to guess already, does have a bunch more humor in it than the last ones. This isn’t to say the last ones didn’t have humor in it, but in the case of this one it’ll flip between cracking crude or funny jokes, to slapstick, to suddenly it’s a horror movie and then an action flick. It’s a good mix, and at least for me even when its “bad” I still really enjoy it.
The sheer luck in timing to get this shot on the first try is amazing. Shame I used it here instead of winning the lotto.
The costumes here get a super nice range to work with. From the sun-safe vampire suits at the start (which doesn’t make a ton of sense when you think about vampires full-covered gloves starting to sizzle in the sun in the last one), to modern attire on the civvies, to the semi-tactical gear of the hunter groups and the rent-a-soldiers, all the way up to the phenomenal Dracula costume. Now, Eventually that costume kind of just gets sidelined for a more modern semi-sexy vampire look and that does make me sad. It’s a baller looking vicious metal armor with skull faces and everything, and I’d take that for an entire movie hands down without complaints. Blades outfit gets a little bit more streamlined, looking like it’s probably much more comfortable and workable for action scenes that come up. The settings are probably the least varied of the trilogy, but it works for what it needs and in turn also probably feels the most cohesive considering the relative samey feel of them.
Effects work is probably the best of the set in my opinion. We get a bit of the split-lip Resident Evil vampire action returning here, but also just in the general sense of things - vampires disintegrating, burning effects, doors and walls smashing up, gun fights and explosions. There’s even a wonderful car crash scene in the front end that looks great. Now, I will admit that not all of the effects work goes off without a hitch - there is at least one point where the apt eye will catch a wall blow out a click before the character hits it, but that’s a minor event in a long line of effects of each kind going on here. If that’s your thing you’ll love it.
Music here is in full throw 2000’s. You know it if you know it - I might not take most of it out of the movie with me on account of a trash memory span, but if you already are big into the music that graced a lot of games, movies, and stuff like that form that time frame you’ll probably recognize a bunch of it. It’s good, it gets you pumped up, and it works as far as the movie and whats going on. Audio balance is well done - you hear everything you need to hear. We don’t worry a ton about the whole “vampire foreign language” that goes on because everyone here just drops it in english so you don’t need to read it.
Obligatory “Gimme back my baby!”
It’s kind of funny, because I remember this being one that everyone hated of the movies. Re-watching it here, I find this might actually be my favorite of the batch - it feels like they gave it a budget and some time to do fun things. That said, I can see where the heavier comedy tone might be off-putting to some people, and there is quite a bit going on. Effects are good, acting is pretty good, story works well, and there’s a bunch of good stuff to look at.