Snipes loses his edge in this 'Blade'As the vampire slayer, he takes a backseat this time.
Poor Wesley Snipes. He didn't get the memo about not working with animals or comedians. First a vampire lapdog, a fanged Pomeranian, upstages him in the actor's own Superfly-meets-Superman franchise. Then a sitcom second banana runs his mouth and runs away with the movie. The dog is a sign not to take Blade: Trinity too seriously. And when wisenheimer Ryan Reynolds (as buff vampire slayer Hannibal King) pops up like a silly wabbit, he turns these earnest proceedings into Kevin Smith-style slapstick.
Poor Wesley Snipes. He didn't get the memo about not working with animals or comedians. First a vampire lapdog, a fanged Pomeranian, upstages him in the actor's own Superfly-meets-Superman franchise. Then a sitcom second banana runs his mouth and runs away with the movie.
The dog is a sign not to take Blade: Trinity too seriously. And when wisenheimer Ryan Reynolds (as buff vampire slayer Hannibal King) pops up like a silly wabbit, he turns these earnest proceedings into Kevin Smith-style slapstick.
Veering between enjoyably potty-mouthed and just-plain potty, Blade: Trinity begins in a tomb somewhere in Sumeria where vampire leaders resurrect the father of all bloodsuckers, Dracula.
He is played by Dominic Purcell, a bull-necked fellow who might be mistaken for Marilyn Manson's bodyguard. The Vampira who disinters him is Danica, played by Parker Posey, who might be mistaken for Marilyn Manson's groupie. Because this Dracula - Drake for short - is so powerful that sunlight doesn't diminish his powers, he threatens to unleash the Dawn of the Undead.
The only thing standing in the way of vampiric global domination is that half-vampire, half-human hybrid known as Blade, who, in his leather trench coat, shades and platinum jewelry, might be mistaken for an unsmiling gangsta.
The streets of Metropolis (I mean Vancouver) are lit by dangerous moonlight. Most threatening of all is the leather-clad Blade, imploding and incinerating vampires with his customized sidearm.
Like cockroaches who devise a roach motel for humans, the bloodsuckers rig a trap for the vampire slayer. They smear him as a serial killer. If the authorities don't eliminate him, then the shape-shifting Drake will.
Fortunately the Nightstalkers, a team of human vampire hunters led by Hannibal and Abigail (comely Jessica Biel), spring Blade from the police and take him to their secret hideaway.
Diverting but dumb and more goth than gothic, Blade: Trinity builds up to a less-than-epochal smackdown between the humorless, muscle-bound Drake and the humorless, muscle-head Blade.
What redeems the film by David S. Goyer (who wrote the screenplay for all three installments and takes over the directorial reins here) is that for every nonstop explosion, there's a hilarious burst of Reynolds' nonstop patter.
Contact movie critic Carrie Rickey at 215-854-5402 or crickey@phillynews.com.
Blade: Trinity
Produced by David S. Goyer, Lynn Harris and Wesley Snipes, written and directed by David S. Goyer, photography by Gabriel Beristain, music by Ramin Djwadi and the RZA, distributed by New Line Cinema.
Running time: 1 hour, 45 mins.
Blade. . . Wesley Snipes
Whistler. . . Kris Kristofferson
Abigail Whistler. . . Jessica Biel
Hannibal King. . . Ryan Reynolds
Danica Talos. . . Parker Posey
Parent's guide: R (strong violence, profanity, sexual candor)
Showing at: area theaters
Movie Review
Blade: Trinity
** (out of four stars)
Opens today in
area theaters