“Blade II” obeys the living daylights out of rule #1 for sequels: You have to have twice the action, twice the gore, twice the loud music and, of course, twice the “babe factor” of your predecessor. The follow-up to the 1998 hit “Blade” (based on the Marvel comic book about a human/vampire hybrid that stalks bloodsuckers) has twice as much of everything. It also loosely obeys Rule #2: Come up with a different adventure and a new angle on your characters (as in the brilliant “Toy Story 2”), rather than a lame re-hash of the original story (as in the incredibly vapid “Beverly Hills Cop II”).

Whereas Blade (Wesley Snipes) took on a hive of techno-loving vamps in the first movie, he now finds himself, along with his human mentor, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson, giving his best impression of a patch of bad road), in an uneasy alliance with a coven of vampires. Their mutual enemy is a hideous offshoot called the Reapers, who are stronger, tougher and more bloodthirsty than their more conventional counterparts and represent a threat to both humans and bloodsuckers.

Blade distrusts his new allies, of course (“I think they’re gonna f**k us the first chance they get”), but sees no other choice than to lead his task force, the Undead equivalent of a crack Special Forces team, into battle. Along the way, he starts trading longing looks with Nyssa (Leonor Varela), a female vamp, against his better judgement.

As I say, the blood factor is increased drastically in “Blade II” (and the literally blood-soaked beginning of the first movie would be hard to top). The special effects are also enhanced, given the bigger budget, although some of the shots of vampires leaping across vast distances are obviously CGI-fake; it also distracts attention away from the action, which is mostly fantastic. The sequel’s director, a guy named Del Toro whose first name I couldn’t pronounce to save my life, engineers some furiously intense and satisfying fight sequences, particularly the climactic martial arts showdown between Blade and Nomak (Luke Goss), the leader of the Reapers. Nomak is certainly fierce and scary, but he’s not quite as fleshed-out and charismatic as Stephen Dorff’s villain in the original. In addition, I know it’s supposed to be a dark picture, but they shouldn’t take it so literally; some of the time, particularly near the beginning, I could hardly tell what was going on.

Snipes tackles his role with kinetic energy and coolness that hovers just a degree or two above freezing. At one point, he actually comes close to smiling. I’ve always thought of Kristofferson as a dreadfully wooden actor, but in this role, he actually fits quite well. Varela is no Meryl Streep, but seems comfortable enough in front of the camera and is twice the hottie that N’Bushe Wright was in the first film (What happened to Karen, anyway?) Varela has eyes you could get lost in for days and spends most of her screen time dressed in tight black leather, a favor I always appreciate.

As for intelligent acting and dialogue...well, hey – if want that, go see a David Mamet picture or something, okay? If you’re in the mood for Kung-fu, machine guns and the Undead, buy your ticket and feed away.



Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age