Blade: Trinity (2004) Review:

Some people may not recognize it as the actual successful start of film studio Marvel comics but Blade (1998) was the original renaissance to where the company entered into profitable film making. It may have not had the intro credits like every property that came after it until its sequels or glowing reviews but the character was one of the few to have a much grittier and darker tone. This attribute would only go to Blade for the first five years until Daredevil (2003) and The Punisher (2004) were released. It was a special franchise that molded vampires from romantic / fantasy creatures into action / horror icons. Blade II (2002) reaffirmed this understanding although it was not as compelling as its predecessor. A couple years later, fans of the series would get their final entry in the series and very few left the theater happy. With a troubled production involving Wesley Snipes and Kris Kristofferson being unsatisfied with the script, the end product feels like not the entire crew was on board.

Blade with Hannibal King and Abigail Whistler

David S. Goyer, the now divisive comic book film adapter of multiple properties wrote and directed this feature. After accidentally killing a human, Blade (Wesley Snipes) is on the run from the F.B.I. and teams up with a group called the Nightstalkers played by Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds) and Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel). Together they must join forces to stop Drake AKA Dracula (Dominic Purcell) from bringing the world to an end. Sounds okay on paper (or screen) but the execution is different. Seeing Goyer's experience in other properties and being involved with this franchise from the very beginning, its confusing as to how Goyer messed up this much. Of the premise, the first subplot that does not belong is the killing of a human. It's not that it's a bad idea, but it never gets resolved so why even bother shoehorning it in? The cast is also a mismatch of actors. The only two actors who fit the best are obviously Snipes and Kristofferson; a close third could be Jessica Biel due to her character's relation to Blade.

But of this, Snipes and Kristofferson feel and sound the least invested and that only further cements the troubled production history. One of the biggest things that fans of the series will notice is how much Whistler and Blade take a back seat. Casting Ryan Reynolds would not have been a mistake if the character of King did not eat up all the dialog on the script. Blade barely says anything in this feature. Here and there yeah he does say a couple of good lines, but it's not that often. Most of the time, he just stares into space or grimaces. There's more to Blade than just that. The same could be said for Biel's role. Her character enjoys listening to music when fighting vampires; that dates the film a lot. Dominic Purcell as Drake (is that supposed to modernize his name?) isn't terrible but he also looks awkward in the role. His face looks as though he doesn't quite know what he's playing so he'll just be himself to some degree. His minions played by Paul Levesque (Triple H) and Parker Posey are actually more convincing vampires than he is.

There's also a distinct lack of action and horror throughout this picture. The special visual effects are actually better than a lot of the CGI stuffed scenes that were in Blade II (2002) but the count is much lower here. There are a couple of decent action scenes but the rest are rather underwhelming. Even the battle between Drake and Blade looks less exciting than what has been put to screen before. There are vampire stabbings, bitings and some blood but it's not as heavy as the violence depicted in this franchise's earlier years. Again going back to tone, Blade (1998) and Blade II (2002) roughly had equal tone with each other. The atmosphere of the universe Blade lived in felt dark and unsafe. The locations used in this entry are just uninteresting and boring. The Nightstalkers' headquarters has nothing special about it and the city itself feels more clean and shiny than in past representations. What was the purpose of this? Was it to just add to the fad at the time of other supehero films? It takes away what the series had going for it.

"How do I look?!"

Handling the camerawork was Mexican cameraman Gabriel Beristain. Beristain had also filmed for Blade II (2002) and S.W.A.T. (2003). Thankfully for much of the film, Beristain's experience kept the shoot steady. Beristain delightfully changed the aspect ratio from the previous entry to a wide lens and that always gives the movie a much bigger scope in visuals. The music was also enjoyable though this series has never had a solidified composer attached. Producing the music to this entry was German composer Ramin Djawadi and for some reason his official score has gone unreleased. There are a few areas where bootlegs can be found but there's no real way of obtaining the music. Only a few actual tracks exist, which mainly highlight some of the action sequences. One called "Shooting Around Corners" uses mainly synths but with an energetic fashion that actually is fun listening to. There are some cues that are organic like "Drake's Parting Gift" using real orchestra but it's not as memorable as the scores released it before.

Unfortunately, the last series to the original Blade (1998) franchise is just middling. The music and visuals are acceptable but the casting feels misguided. The main leads don't sound invested, the action is infrequent and Blade doesn't do all that much wisecracking or say much at all.

Points Earned --> 5:10