Superhero Media: Blade (1998)

This film was one of the biggest things with my friends and I for what seemed like years, or at least until The Matrix came out. For an obscure Marvel character which most people misinterpret (did you know that Blade is British?), Blade took the world by storm and opened the door for X-Men and Spider-Man to blow everyone's mind. I hadn't watched this film for probably around a decade, so I was honestly shocked to discover just how good it still was. Yes, the CGI blood and late-90s Techno soundtrack date Blade a bit, but the design work is still slick and lots of location shooting really ground the film; seriously, I think there's maybe two or three sets and the rest is location. That's impressive for a sci-fi/horror/action film of any era. And what happened to Stephen Dorff? Dude is great in this film, but I just checked his IMDB page and I don't think I've seen anything else he's done, and I watch some obscure shit. The real star, of course, is Kris Kristofferson as Whistler. 

If we get an MCU version of Blade, can we have a Prequel about Whistler narrated by Kristofferson while he's still around? That'd be cool. Anyway, back to the film, Blade is a "daywalker", part human, part vampire, ripped from his mother's womb as she began the change herself, he has all of their strengths and none of their weaknesses, except the thirst for blood. When hematologist Karen is attacked by a fleeing Vampire, she is drawn into Blade and Whistler's world and the truth of the shadowy Vampire organisations running the world is slowly revealed to her. Meanwhile, Decon Frost is usurping the thirteen Vampire Clans (sorry, "families") to bring about Gehenna, whoops, I mean the Vampire Apocalypse. Yeah, did the writers know about Vampire the Masquerade before they wrote this, or did they just hit upon the same themes? All I know is that meshing it all together if I ever get around to finishing my Modern Horror Skirmish game is going to be pretty straightforward. Think I'll get away with "Edge, the Daystalker", or will Marvel sue? 

It's pretty rare that I find a trashy, fun, cult favourite like Blade, which is so well put together and actually holds up as a film on its own merits. The world that it presents, whilst clearly a bricolage inspired by other works, holds together well and doesn't fail to uphold its own internal logic. The conflict between the ancient, moneyed, power-broker Vampires and the young, party culture Vampires isn't actually driven by Blade, he's just a third wheel complicating matters. Similarly, Blade and Whistler don't care about the internal conflicts of the "Vampire Nation", outside of how they can turn the division to their advantage. That the driving antagonist narrative could be a film on its own merits speaks to the quality and care that went into Blade, rather than being just another cheap 90s superhero cash-in. It's no wonder that Blade is credited with the rebirth of the genre into Hollywood after the disastrous Batman and Robin a year previous. If you haven't seen this one for a good decade, like me, grab it out of the box of DVDs in the garage and take another look.