“Hang in there, kitten. I’ll get help.”

ZombieDog’s rating: Blade-fu with an attitude.

ZombieDog’s review: Sequels are nothing new. Basil Rathbone acted in fourteen Sherlock Holmes movies from 1939 to 1946. This wasn’t even the first incarnation of Sherlock Holmes (that was in 1916, over a century ago). It was really the continual Marvel movies that started me thinking about movie franchises and their effects. Which makes it a little bit ironic that I am going to continue talking about a Marvel movie, but this time it’s a Marvel movie that is buried in the past.

Blade Trinity is the third and final installment in the Blade trilogy. The film starts off with Blade (Wesley Snipes) engaging in his normal activity of killing vampires in the most brutal ways imaginable. However, after three movies the vampires have had enough of this, and they have come up with a clever plan. They convinced one of their human familiars to wear fake vampire teeth so Blade can be seen killing a normal person. The plan works, and law enforcement sends a small army to capture him. In the process they manage to kill his friend and mentor Whistler (Kris Kristofferson). Back at the police station the interrogation is not going well, and Blade is quite uncooperative.

It doesn’t matter anyway because Blade soon discovers that the vampires have infiltrated the police and this was all part of their plan. Just when things look dark for our hero, another vampire fighter group breaks in the police department and rescues him. This is our first introduction to Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds) and Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel), Whistler’s daughter. What ensues is a classic storyline of scrappy upstarts teaming up with the grizzled veteran.

After being foiled in their attempts to kill Blade, the vampires are now desperate. In their desperation they decide to dig up and revive Count Dracula. I have to admit I like this aspect of the plot. It fits with the rest of the movies and represents a climax of the series by having Blade ultimately climb his way up the vampire chain.

Unfortunately, this is where it also goes wrong.

The first movie was filmed in California, and the second one in Prague, Czechoslovakia. But Blade Trinity was filmed in Vancouver, and it really feels like they picked the bottom of the barrel filming locations. They were probably suffering from budget constraints, although I believe if they really tried, they probably could’ve found something unique in Vancouver.

What’s worse, is that sometimes it felt like they were doing guerrilla filmmaking by just pulling the van up, jumping out, and shooting the scene. The reason I’m bringing it up is that the first movie predates The Matrix series, yet it really embodied that stylized slick appearance. I wouldn’t be surprised if the first movie wasn’t at least noticed by the Matrix team. What’s more it kept it up even through the second movie with a bold choice to film in Eastern Europe. Totally works though, those older European buildings really set the tone. It’s a wonderful example of how filming location can have a profound effect on a movie. Maybe it’s just a pet peeve of mine, but cinematography doesn’t have to be about budget. Creativity and passion can carry you a long way.

It could be said that they were looking at diminishing returns, yet all three of these movies made a profit. Furthermore, this film being a Marvel property along with profitable R-rated material seems like something they would’ve went out of their way to protect.

While reading the notes for this movie there was a consistent theme in that Wesley Snipes was difficult to work with. One of his main concerns about the movie was that he didn’t like this script. Although after seeing it, I think he might’ve been onto something.

All that criticism aside, it is still good for a B-movie. It has everything you would want in a vampire action movie, and it’s filled with a lot of upcoming stars. It’s a solid action film and it’s mostly about killing vampires. On that level absolutely succeeds. Wesley Snipes looks amazing in the movie, plus we get to see a young Ryan Reynolds developing his snarky character that he is still playing today. In addition, we also get to see a young Jessica Biel and Patton Oswalt. If you’re really looking to find good B-movies, then it’s hard to go wrong with looking deep into sequels.

It does seem like that at a certain point when you’re watching a movie you have to decide if you’re going to appreciate it for a higher more fully conceived piece of cinema or are you going to be willing to overlook flaws and find the silver lining in your viewing experience. If anything describes the love of B-movies it must be the latter approach. To be fair if you’re going into the third movie of the Blade trilogy looking for a deep nuanced exploration of a conflicted man on a relentless mission, then you probably watching the wrong movie.

Quick picks:

• Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
• Horror of Dracula (1958)
• Dracula (1931)