The tyranist's thoughts
So I dug on the first one and I'm almost always in for comic book movies. Naturally I had to rush out and see this. I don't know if I was expecting more from it, but in the end the only thing I missed was any kind of dramatic story.
So Blade is still out there hunting down vampires, in specific, he wants to find Whistler, who's apparently been turned. That done, the ruling body of the vampires approaches him to make a deal. See there's like a new super strain of vampire that is kicking ass and not bothering to take names in Eastern Europe. The vampires want Blade to help them destroy this new menace.
The plot isn't bad, especially when they take a two-minute breather from the action. And therein lies the problem. Apparently someone thought that the only reason people watched the first movie was for the action. There is literally a fight seen every two minutes the whole way through. Some of them were fun to watch, some of them had enough CGI involved to be a little distracting, and some happened too fast, were too poorly edited, or were simply too dark to really understand.
Wesley Snipes plays exactly the same character. No problem there. I dug on Leonor Varela as the 'love-interest' and enjoyed the few times she fought too. Ron Perlman played a foil to Blade pretty effectively and even had a few really good moments. Most of all I enjoyed seeing Danny John Jules. Cat no more, he's kicking ass now.
If you are just looking for a ton of blood and a lot of fighting this is your flick. Be warned that the cool traditional martial arts style fighting it mixed with a healthy dose of what we can only call 'Matrix-itis' and more pro-wresting moves than I'm comfortable with. If you enjoyed the first one and don't mind not being allowed to take a break from the action, you'll probably like this.
Posted: July 16, 2002

Rish's Reviews
The original Blade was surprisingly great, filled with amazing special effects, intense stylized fight sequences, and an intriguing premise. I had no preconceptions and no real interest in the film, and that, besides an honestly well-written story, helped blow me away when I saw it in 1998. So, here we are, four years later, and the oft-delayed Blade II comes along. And guess what? It's just as good.
The sequel is filled with even more amazing special effects (the Reavers with their sickening, snakelike mouths were disturbing and totally unique), more intensely stylized fight sequences (the battle that ends the movie is one of the best fights I've ever seen), and an even more intriguing premise (once again written by David S. Goyer). This was a crowd-pleaser, fun, exciting, with practically flawless effects (I could've done without the Matrix stuff, but of course, I could always do without it).
I think the only negative I have to say about the film was that there was very little emotion or human feeling throughout. The original had more of that, focusing not only on Blade and Whistler, but on Blade and the girl and Blade and his mother. This one threw a tiny bit in, but it would've been more powerful had they sprinkled some throughout.
I recently met geeky Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro, who brought a ton of style and uniqueness to this sequel, and he was a very nice guy. I'll try and see more of his films for the site soon.