Blade II
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| Blade II | |
 Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Guillermo del Toro |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Wesley Snipes Peter Frankfurt Patrick Palmer |
| Written by | Screenplay David S. Goyer Comic book Marv Wolfman Gene Colan |
| Starring | Wesley Snipes Kris Kristofferson Ron Perlman Thomas Kretschmann Leonor Varela Danny John-Jules Luke Goss |
| Music by | Marco Beltrami Danny Saber |
| Cinematography | Gabriel Beristain |
| Editing by | Peter Amundson |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | March 22, 2002 |
| Running time | 117 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $54,000,000 |
| Gross revenue | $155,010,032 |
| Preceded by | Blade |
| Followed by | Blade: Trinity |
Blade II is a 2002 American vampire action film based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Blade. It is the first sequel to the film Blade, making it the second in the Blade film-series. It continues the essence and story of the first film, but introduces a new event and numerous new characters. Unlike the first film, it is directed by Guillermo del Toro, but the same writers persisted and also Wesley Snipes returned for the lead role and again as a producer.
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[edit] Plot
Two years after the end of the previous film, Jared Nomak, dressed in rags, enters a blood bank in Prague looking to donate. A doctor leads him to a secluded chamber, where he quickly learns that the bank is run by vampires intent on draining him. They smirk when they tell him about their plan to drain him, he cries but soon he begins to laugh derisively before feeding on the vampire woman he uses superhuman strength to fight back before feeding on the rest of the vampires. Meanwhile, Blade cuts a swath through the vampire population of Prague to find his old mentor Abraham Whistler being kept in suspended animation. He rescues Whistler, who has been turned into a vampire, and administers an accelerated version of the cure that was developed in the first film. Whistler revives and learns that Blade has procured a new weaponsmith in his absence, Scud.
As Whistler and Scud begin to argue, a pair of vampires, Nyssa, and Asad invade Blade's base and deliver a truce offering. Blade accepts and visits the fortress of the ancient vampire Eli Damaskinos. There he learns that a disease spread by Nomak has created a new strain of infected vampires called Reapers that threaten to wipe out all human and vampire life on the planet. The vampires offer to ally with Blade in order to combat this mutual threat. Blade agrees and teams with the Bloodpack, an elite vampire squad that was created to battle Blade himself.
Blade and the Bloodpack stake out a vampire nightclub, and their uneasy alliance quickly wears thin. When the Reapers attack, Blade pursues Nomak, and learns that he too bears a personal grudge against vampires. After the battle, the group deduces that the Reapers' only weakness is ultraviolet light. They concoct a plan to lure the Reapers into the sewers and ambush them with UV grenades. Though Blade develops an unusual connection with Nyssa, the daughter of Damaskinos, he is ultimately betrayed by the Bloodpack during the ambush. All the Reapers are killed in the UV explosion except Nomak.
Blade, Whistler, and Scud are taken back to Damaskinos's fortress as prisoners, where Damaskinos reveals that he created Nomak in a botched effort to breed a superior race of vampires. Scud also reveals himself as a traitor, but Blade kills him with his own bomb. As Nomak assaults the fortress, Whistler and Blade break free. Nomak kills Damaskinos and infects Nyssa before Blade catches up to him. Blade and Nomak engage in a final battle before Blade stabs Nomak in the heart. On the brink of death, Nomak feels relieved of his pain and completes the fatal blow.
As the sun dawns, Blade stoically grants Nyssa her final wish to see the sun, to die as a vampire before the Reaper virus takes hold of her. In the epilogue, Rush is seen in London going to a stripper when he sees Blade who casually remarks "What? You didn't think I forgot about you...did you?" before stabbing him between the eyes with a silver stake.
[edit] Cast
- Wesley Snipes as Blade, a half-vampire "daywalker" who hunts vampires. Wesley Snipes accepts that whilst such a character isn't going to have much emotional depth, he did feel that "there's some acting involved in creating the character and making him believable and palatable.[1]
- Kris Kristofferson as Abraham Whistler, Blade's human mentor and weaponsmith.
- Ron Perlman as Reinhardt, a member of the Bloodpack, who bears a particular grudge against Blade.
- Leonor Varela as Nyssa Damaskinos, an unapologetic, natural-born vampire and daughter to Damaskinos, Nyssa develops an unusual connection with Blade.
- Norman Reedus as Scud, a young, chain smoking weaponsmith who aids Blade in Whistler's absence. He is also a vampire familiar and double-agent.
- Thomas Kretschmann as Eli Damaskinos, an ancient vampire who is obsessed with creating a superior race of vampires as his legacy.
- Luke Goss as Jared Nomak, Patient zero and carrier of the Reaper virus. He bears a grudge against Damaskinos for forsaking him.
- Matt Schulze as Chupa, a pugnacious member of the Bloodpack who bears a particular grudge against Whistler.
- Danny John-Jules as Asad, a well-mannered member of the Bloodpack who helps deliver Damaskinos's message to Blade.
- Donnie Yen as Snowman, a mute swordsman and member of the Bloodpack. Yen also choreographed three of the fight scenes for the film.
- Karel Roden as Karl Kounen, a "familiar", Damaskinos's human agent and lawyer.
- Marit Velle Kile as Verlaine, a red-haired member of the Bloodpack and the lover of Lighthammer.
- Daz Crawford as Lighthammer, a hulking, hammer-wielding member of the Bloodpack.
- Tony Curran as Priest, an Irish-accented member of the Bloodpack, and the first member to be infected by the Reaper virus.
- Santiago Segura as Rush, a vampire flunky in Prague who temporarily escapes Blade's wrath.
- Chris Hay as Reaper, a vampire in Prague who gets infected with the Reaper virus.
[edit] Production
Guillermo del Toro was hired to direct Blade II by New Line production prexy Michael De Luca.[2] Tippet Studios were taken on to digitally recreate people.[3]
[edit] Release
Blade II was released on March 22, 2002. This was during a period of the year (months March and April) considered to be a bad time for sequels to be released.[4] Despite this, the film became the most successful of the Blade films, making $80 million in the United States and $150 million worldwide. In its opening weekend the film earned $32,528,016 from 2,707 theaters[5] but dropped 59% of its earnings in its second week, which brought in $13.2 million. The intake is believed to be affected in part by the strong pull of NCAA basketball Final Four games Saturday.[6] The film debuted in the United Kingdom at number one, making $3.6 million from 355 theatres[7] and held the spot for the following week, where it had earned $7.9 million despite a 47% decline. The film also bowed in at number one in Singapore, taking $214,000 from 30 theatres.[8] Critically, however, the film's reviews were less favorable, gaining a 57% on Rotten Tomatoes. While it is a generally mixed score, it is the highest rated Blade film, surpassing Blade 's 54% and Trinity 's 26%. On a similar film critic website, Metacritic, the film has a 52, indicating "Mixed or Average Reviews." This again surpasses Blade 's 45 and Trinity 's 38.
[edit] Soundtrack
A soundtrack containing hip hop music and techno music was released on March 19, 2002 by Virgin Records. It peaked at #26 on the Billboard 200 and #23 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
[edit] References
- ^ Bill Higgins (April 1, 2002). "A party with a bite". Variety. http://www.variety.com/vstory/VR1117864777.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-13.
- ^ Michael Fleming (March 25, 2002). "Helmer scales mountains". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117864489.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-13.
- ^ Ellen Wolff (July 21, 2002). "Artists flaunt character development at confab". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117870028.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-16.
- ^ Variety staff (March 22, 2002). "Weekend Box Office Preview (March 22, 2002)". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117864344.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-13.
- ^ "Blade II". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=blade2.htm. Retrieved on 2008-12-13.
- ^ Dave McNary (March 31, 2002). "Col's "Room" at the top". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117864637.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-13.
- ^ Don Groves (April 1, 2002). ""Ice" the rage o'seas". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117864735.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-13.
- ^ Don Groves (April 8, 2002). ""Ice" ages well overseas". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117865094.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-13.
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Blade II |
- Official website
- Blade II at the Internet Movie Database
- Blade II at Allmovie
- Blade II at Rotten Tomatoes
- Blade II at Metacritic
- Blade II at Box Office Mojo
- Blade II script
- Blade II at Marvel.com
| Preceded by Ice Age |
Box office number-one films of 2002 (USA) March 24 |
Succeeded by Panic Room |
| Preceded by Ali G Indahouse |
Box office number-one films of 2002 (UK) March 31 - April 7 |
Succeeded by Bend It Like Beckham |
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