Blade (1998) Movie Review

Posted on by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes
details
Title: Blade.
Rated: R.
Director: Stephen Norrington.
Writer(s): David S. Goyer.
Release Date: 1998.
Runtime:  2h.
Genre(s): Action, Horror, Sci-fi.
Cast: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N’Bushe Wright, Donal Logue, Udo Kier, Arly Jover, and many more!
Budget: $45 Million.
My Overall Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Originally wanting to play Black Panther, actor Wesley Snipes ended up landing the role for Blade and became the definitive model and characterization of the iconic dhampir since the release of the first movie of the trilogy in 1998. Not only does this movie kickstarts the renaissance of comic book adaptations, but it also establishes one of the first dark superhero movies with an R-rating. As Marvel’s first box office success—which is unsurprising when the first Marvel theatrical release was Howard the Duck (1986)—Blade (1998), directed by Stephen Norrington (who later also directs The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and written by David S. Goyer (who later also helps write the story for Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight) introduces the world to a ruthless and slick leather-suited slayer who will stop at nothing to put an end to the rise of a blood-sucking underbelly of vampire society.

What is Blade (1998) about? In 1997, a human-vampire hybrid known as Blade, the Day Walker, born thirty years ago when his pregnant mother was bitten by a vampire, is now on a crusade to rid the world of these bloodsuckers. Meanwhile, a young rebellious vampire leader, Deacon Frost, looks to enable the domination of humans by his race despite the council of pure-blood vampire elders, known as the House of Erebus, warning him that his desires are drawing unnecessary attention. Oblivious to their wisdom, Deacon Frost attempts to demystify the book of Erebus, the vampire bible, in hopes of awakening the Blood God, La Magra. Teamed up with his old friend and mentor Abraham Whistler, providing him with a unique artillery against vampires, Blade sets out to slay Deacon Frost and his followers once and for all before the world falls into their hands.

(c) IMDb.

Although it’s way more style than substance, this debut of Blade’s slicing and dicing adventures across vampire-packed night clubs brings on an impressively entertaining dose of blood-spraying action and mayhem to the big screen. Wesley Snipes’s portrayal of the iconic superhero is snazzy, sleeky, and mysteriously gothic. Through his well-versed knowledge of vampires and experienced warfare techniques (e.g. utilizing silver, garlic, and ultraviolet lights to defeat them), he showcases some wonderfully choreographed martial arts action while also adding a dash of cocky playfulness in his gory and violent obliteration of vampires. Although the story at the heart of this action flick is plot-thin, it still does a pretty decent job of telling a vampire-world-domination story while focusing on Blade’s character and his plight. His own desire to hold onto his humanity and not succumb to the only weakness he has makes his struggle intriguing in the grand scheme of things.

The side characters who assist the Day Walker in his crusade are one-dimensional but serve their narrative purposes. It is difficult to be emotionally invested in any of these characters, but it is clear that the movie rather focuses on giving viewers an adrenaline-packed, stylistically edited, and continuously-stimulating experience than delivering a multi-layered and intimate tale centered around a conflicted hero. There is plenty of room for improvement in fleshing out the world in which the protagonist evolves but the story contents itself to the bare minimum while letting Wesley Snipes carry the show through his charismatic portrayal of Blade. It doesn’t help however that he can leisurely walk around the streets in his attire with his sword poking out his back with not a single soul reacting to his shenanigans. Although intentional, don’t get me started on the portrayal of cops within this movie. You’d think that there’s at least one who knows how to do his job.

(c) IMDb.

You can tell when CGI is incorporated into the movie and while it does make it difficult to remain immersed in the action at times, it’s still impressively executed for a movie from the late 90s. This is even more true in the final act but somehow that’s what adds to the charm of the movie, a movie that really channels all the 90s energy you’d now reminisce about today. The editing and cinematography in this movie also play in its favour in more ways than one way, adding a unique rapid-fire style and execution that complements Blade’s own action choreography. The colour palette is also fantastic, with Blade in a glossy leather suit, embracing a monochromatic style, within a Gothic world, pale and eerie. It’s the blood and gore that really gives this movie the edge, especially once you get to the parts where a medicinal concoction known as EDTA is introduced into the story and CGI allows us to watch vampires inflate and explode with as much style as Wesley Snipes delivering one of the most iconic lines in superhero movies pertaining to motherfuckers and ice-skating.

Blade (1998) is a highly-stylistic yet plot-thin adventure introducing Blade’s crusade against blood-thirsty creatures of the dark in the midst of an evil vampire’s own rebellious quest to resurrect a blood god.

Blade (1998) is available for purchase and on select streaming services.
Have you read any Blade comics?
Have you seen Blade (1998)? Will you?
What did you think about it?
Share your thoughts with me!
Banner1
INSTAGRAM – GOODREADS – Letterboxd – TWITTER – OUTLOOK

Published by Lashaan Balasingam @ Roars and Echoes

Reader. Reviewer. Researcher. Criminology Ph.D. Candidate. Montreal, Quebec (Canada). Want to know more? Connect with him!

41 thoughts on “Blade (1998) Movie Review”

  4. I enjoyed this movie a good bit. By the time I got around to it though, I’d already seen most of the Underworld series so the whole “daywalker” idea didn’t feel fresh. I liked snipes better than the chick in underworld though. I know I watched the 2 sequels to Blade, but honestly, I can’t remember a single thing from them.

    Will you be watching/reviewing them?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Oh man, I’ve seen snippets of Underworld growing up but I can’t distinguish it from all the Resident Evil movies either. I’d have to give them all a proper rewatch to even know what each movie of those different franchises was about anymore. I do plan on checking out Blade II and Blade Trinity and for sure will review them here. The plan is to rewatch all the Marvel movies in chronological order anyway. 😀

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      2. Man, I say that’s an understatement. I dread the 2015 Fantastic Four, having actually seen it in theaters, I still remember how terrible that was! But yes, I’m definitely going to get through all of those. If I can survive Catwoman or Steel or Supergirl, I hope getting through those won’t be any worse!

        Liked by 1 person

      3. I found the FF 2 was even worse. The thing is, they had the star power to pull it off, but the “artistic” vision and the writing felt like it was ripped straight from the 80’s. But enough, I’ll leave it until you actually review it, hahahahaa

        Liked by 1 person

  6. I remember watching this with my husband years ago. He liked it and wanted to watch the others when they came out. It was okay, but I had no interest in watching any others. I don’t remember much more about it, but my memory isn’t what it used to be.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I can’t say that I’d highly recommend Blade to anyone today. You’d have to have certain particular interests to want to revisit these today. There are plans on a remake to come out soon within all the Marvel superhero stuff so you might as well be on the lookout for that if it turns out any decent. Thanks for stopping by, Carla! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. I recall watching this with a group of friends when it came out. I might have even gone to the theater to see it. I enjoyed it at the time, it seemed somewhat different from most of the other movies of the time. Thinking back I really don’t recall much specific about it, just the general feel, which matches with your thoughts on it being more style than substance. But it was some nice style at the time.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Absolutely nice style, Todd, that’s for sure! He still looks awesome as Blade and I have a hard time imagining anyone doing Blade even if Mahershala Ali will be playing him as part of Blade’s reboot into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I’m Ali will be good, since he is a fantastic actor, but Snipes is still soooo iconic as the character!

      Like

      Reply

  11. This movie was very popular when it first came out, and it even pre-dated The Matrix with its Bullet Time effects. It also revitalized the superhero movie after years of bad Batman and Superman movies that nearly killed the genre, not to mention the first two Marvel movies released in theatres (Howard the Duck and Captain America) were straight up bad movies. That said, Blade really hasn’t aged well, and not just because of the bad CGI.

    I’ve heard that Blade II is better than the first, but I’m just not motivated whatsoever to watch it. That and Blade: Trinity is straight up trash.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  13. Pingback: My Monthly Wrap-Up | April 2023 – Roars and Echoes

  14. Oh my stars, I remember this one. I saw it as a teenager and this was my first taste of vampire stories. I thought it was a blast. Not sure how I’d react seeing it now, but your review was a fun revisit to my vague memories of it. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I remember how this movie came out around the same period as when I also discovered Resident Evil and Underworld! I wouldn’t recommend this highly but if you’re craving for a vampire-slaying superhero, you’ve got this guy! 😀 Thanks for reading, Sophia!

      Like

      Reply

  16. I enjoyed this one when I was younger, but I agree about the CGI stuff. I notice it more these days. This is one that I’d love to see a remake of with modern tech, so I’m looking forward to that.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  17. Blade was a lot of fun and It was one of the first movies to combine horror, comedy and martial arts in a stylish and entertaining way. It also paved the way for other successful comic book movies like X-Men

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s