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 or the third and ostensibly final entry in the
Marvel comics based "Blade" franchise, New Line handed the
directorial reigns over to series scribe David Goyer. Having penned the two
previous installments, as well as a variety of other genre films (including
the upcoming "Batman Begins"), Goyer would seem to be a fairly
logical, and relatively risk free choice, especially since he was again to
be working from his own script. Unfortunately in this case the route of
least resistance turns out to be one which yields little reward, as
"Blade Trinity", whilst not actually a bad film as such, is easily
the weakest in the trilogy, and which provides a disappointing and limp
finale to what has been one of the more enjoyable action/horror hybrid
series to have come out of Hollywood in recent years.
The big surprise here is that the
film's failure is not so much because of Goyer's direction as much as it's
his writing, which is incredibly pedestrian, and lacking in any ambition or
innovation. Instead of capitalising upon the characters and scenarios that
he himself has built up in the previous films, Goyer seems quite
inexplicably content to remove any depth or intrigue, replacing them instead
with generic action sequences and tired wisecracking. Along with Goyer's
lacklustre, music-video style direction, this adds up to a film which is
decidedly underwhelming, and which seems to be rather self consciously going
through the motions rather than attempting to advance the series or at least
give it a fitting conclusion.
The plot begins with a group of vampires resurrecting
Dracula, referred to as 'Drake' (played by the stunningly uncharismatic TV
actor Dominic Purcell ("John Doe")) as part of some 'final
solution'-type scheme aimed at giving them world domination. At the same
time, they move against their nemesis, Blade (Wesley Snipes) by tricking
him into killing a human and thus making him a target for the police and
FBI. Captured and helpless, all seems lost for the plucky vampire killer,
when he is unexpectedly rescued by 'The Nightstalkers', an equally plucky
group of young slayers, led by Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds, in the new
version of "Amityville") and Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel,
from the recent "Texas
Chainsaw Massacre" remake), the daughter of Blade's friend and
mentor, Whistler. Together, the trio does battle against the supposedly
all-powerful Drake, whilst trying to develop their own apocalyptic weapon
which will stem the vampire tide once and for all.
The main problem with Goyer's script, as can be seen
from the above synopsis, is that it is an obvious step back, in much the
same way that "Alien
3" suffered after "Aliens".
After seeing Blade battle hordes of vampiric half-breeds in Guillermo Del
Toro's "Blade 2",
it is simply very difficult to feel any kind of enthusiasm about seeing
Blade take on a single foe. Goyer makes things worse by refusing to flesh
out Drake's character or give us any demonstration of his powers or
so-called legendary evil. During the course of the film, Drake actually
does very little, and in fact seems remarkably unenthusiastic about the
whole affair, only joining in the action at the climax.
As a villain, Drake is an absolute failure, with no
sense of menace, no real gimmicks, or indeed anything which sets him apart
from the hordes of lesser vampires which Blade slices through like a
leather clad lawnmower. This lack of a convincing central villain
hamstrings the film badly, and though Goyer does keep things fast paced
and full of action, he spends far too much time with the young vampire
hunters, in what seems to be an obvious attempt to kick start a spin off
franchise. Unfortunately, although Goyer gives Abigail and King plenty of
screen time, he does very little with them beyond drowning any dark edge
the film may have had in a tide of bad jokes and excruciatingly dull
character inter-relationships. Neither Reynolds nor Biel manages to rise
above the lame material, and as a result the viewer quickly grows bored
with their antics.
As such, the film only comes to life when it focuses
on Blade. The problem with this is that Goyer makes no attempt to add
anything new to the Blade character, a fact that the writer/director
himself seems to be aware of through his constant references to Blade as a
'weapon' or a 'tool'. Whilst Snipes certainly gets to put his character
through a fair amount of action, perhaps even more than previously, we
learn nothing new about his motivations or inner workings, and as a result
it is very hard to care about what actually happens to him.
In fact, Goyer makes very little effort not only with
the characters, but also with the actual plot itself. He reuses many
scenes from the previous two films, and makes no attempt to give the
feeling that things are moving towards any kind of endgame. Indeed, the
film at no point displays any of the tension or desperate excitement that
should surely be expected in the final part of a trilogy. The lack of
inspiration is all too obvious, and after a very short period the viewer
is depressed and very aware that the film is going nowhere fast.
To be fair, there are a few good things to be said
about "Blade: Trinity". Though Goyer's direction is depressing
in its anonymity, he does include a lot of action, and as such the film is
never actually dull. Borrowing in equal measures from the directors who
have gone before him, Goyer manages to replicate some of the excitement of
the preceding films, and adds a few interesting innovations to the
formula. The downside to this is that he eschews the visceral feel of the
other films, and the proceedings, though fairly violent, are anemic and
lacking in the gore that would certainly have livened things up to some
degree. Instead, Goyer keeps things loud and flashy, and tries to generate
some kind of impact through the usual fast cutting and loud techno music,
in a fashion which became tired a good few years ago.
This really sums "Blade: Trinity" up quite
well, as it performs reasonably, whilst offering viewers a rather
bloodless and uninspired retread of the previous films. Though unlikely to
actually offend, it certainly disappoints, and through falling back on a
plot that could have been borrowed from "Buffy the Vampire
Slayer", and a villain that lacks any kind of enthusiasm or threat,
it sadly ends the series with a pitiful whimper rather than a bloody bang.
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