[Jeffrey]

Originally Posted by Vershal

All said, it was the weakest of the franchise, and after the opening scene in Iraq I groaned and thought Man, this is going to be lame.

My response was the opposite. Being a fan of world mythology, anthropology, history, and esoterica, I was going nuts when they were stepping into a Cyclopean structure in a desert plain near the "Cradle of Civilization" - I knew we were up for something epic in a good-natured sense.

Dagon is a fish-god, but I still enjoyed how they presented a new angle on their vampire mythology. Blade 2 had us delving into science....Blade: Trinity touched on speciation and on the scientific roots of spiritual mythologies. Very interesting twist, in a pulp comic sort of way.

It wasn't though, and it gave me exactly what I was looking for: Blade fighting guys who explode into flame when he shoots them, some new vampires to hate, and a couple of action sequences.

And, another set of entries into an independent vampire mythos. These days most sci-fi/horror/post-pagan/fantasy/weird mythoi are pretty derivative. Few people can rise above Anne Rice or H.P. Lovecraft or J.R.R. Tolkien or Gene Roddenberry when trying to forge a piece of "weird" media. But the folks in Blade have taken an amusing comic and made it into an independent universe. Being a huge comic fan who views many mainline comic creations as plastic constructs to be used to write great stories, I applaud the vast changes they brought to Blade as a film from Blade as a movie. They changed several things (what being a Daywalker entails, silver instead of wood, etc.) while still being true to the spirit of the comic as they created a whole new vampire mythos.

Case in point....

A lot of reviewers objected to the comic relief from the Ryan Reynolds character, but I found it mostly appropriate to the scenes,

I for one didn't care for his foulest utterances related to genitalia, but he was a very enjoyable character. Once again, he was based off the actual comic character of Hannibal, but given a new angle. He was great, and I can't wait for a Nightstalkers movie.

and I thought that Parker Posey did a fairly decent job as a vampire superbeee-atch.

Totally.

One or two moments of bad CGI aside, the visual effects of the movie worked. The thing to understand when you are approaching a movie like this is that it is not going to be A Clockwork Orange--it won't change cinema, but it will entertain you if you turn your brain off and realize how freakin' cool it is to watch Blade and gang kick vampire behind.

I thought the visual effects were good.

Surely Blade:Trinity wasn't meant to be an intellectual thriller, but if you share the basis of world mythology and comic/pulp roots that the creators of these films possess, you'll get a major treat. Blade should inspire you all to keep reading!

[Adam]

This movie was incredibly lame, but not because it wasn't intellectual.

Can't they do anything progressive with Blade's character? He's the same in every film. Unemotional and generally a smart-ass. He's one-dimensional, lacking depth. Batman wasn't an intellectual movie yet his character was interesting and deep.

The wittiness in the film got old after about a couple lines. Were the characters trying to be funny in an attempt to offset the otherwise ridiculous plot? I hope so for their sake.

In fact, even the action was bland, taking shots straight from the Matrix in some cases. The first two films were far more intriguing cinematically (nothing in Trinity compares to the first film's first scene).

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Adam

This movie was incredibly lame

I'm gonna miss you, buddy. =D

[Adam]

I'm gonna miss you, buddy. =D

You leavin' the boards? Stay in touch with me over AIM. I'll be back on it in January.

[Adam]

I'm also getting sick of this argument: "Its an action film, it wasn't meant to be an art-film! Enjoy the ride!"

This argument only works sometimes. If that logic was correct we could say that about any movie and anything would be good according to that principle. The fact is, there are good principles of execution and bad ones. Blade:Trinity is executed poorly whether the ride is enjoyable to you or not.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Adam

You leavin' the boards? Stay in touch with me over AIM. I'll be back on it in January.

No, I'm here for good. I was implying that you would be hastily murdered by Sean and Jeff.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by Danny

No, I'm here for good. I was implying that you would be hastily murdered by Sean and Jeff.

Well I've talked to a few more people about the film, and I've put a great amount of thought into the subject. As best that I can tell, Jeff and I saw a different film than everyone else that saw Blade:Trinity. I'm sorry that the rest of you were unable to see the film shown at our showing. And I fear that I may never see the film again. This brings much sorrow to my soul.





I feel like poo poo
My suggestion is to keep your distance cuz right now im dangerous
We've all felt like poo poo
And been treated like poo poo
All those bad worders that want to step up
I hope you know I pack a chain saw
I'll skin your bottom raw
And if my day keeps goin' this way I just might break somethin' tonight...
I hope you know I pack a chain saw
I'll skin your bottom raw
And if my day keeps goin' this way I just might break somethin' tonight...
I hope you know I pack a chain saw
I'll skin your bottom raw
And if my day keeps goin' this way I just might break your blanking face tonight!!
Give me somethin' to break
How bout your blank'n face
I hope you know I pack a chain saw, what!!...

[Jeffrey]

Originally Posted by Adam

I'm also getting sick of this argument: "Its an action film, it wasn't meant to be an art-film! Enjoy the ride!"

This argument only works sometimes. If that logic was correct we could say that about any movie and anything would be good according to that principle. The fact is, there are good principles of execution and bad ones. Blade:Trinity is executed poorly whether the ride is enjoyable to you or not.

I don't know. I hate to sound arrogant, but I think most folks who know me would consider me an intellectual who appreciates the mundane. I read a wide amount of literature - my library selections from these past six months included biographies of great writers, fiction ranging from early Dark Romanticism to recent post-modern fiction, and books on botany. I read two volumes on Calvin in the past two months - while buying each issue of Batgirl for the past year. I listen to classical music, obscure ethnic sounds, independent music, pre-twentieth pop music, and mainstream genres all in one fell swoop. You probably wouldn't recognize half of the songs on the list of my favorite songs, but the other half would be songs everyone knows. My soul thrills to Pynchon, to Shakespeare, to Nabokov, to Shelley, to Joss Whedon and Bruce Timm. I love works regarded as classic and artistic, yet I also watch a lot of cartoons. I write sonnets and free form poetry, I smoke a pipe, I drink RC Cola, and I read Green Arrow. I prefer hymns to praise music, but I still think Third Day represent one of the best pieces of Christian art in the past century. Blah blah blah.

So I have been tempted to write a very scholarly look at the Blade trilogy via a hypertextual essay. I think one can examine the Blade trilogy as a whole and as seperate parts and see in its characters, plotlines, and direction clear themes and symbols. I think there are many masterful shots in the filming and strokes of innovation in the writing. I think I could write a hypertextual essay that would present the Blade trilogy as something well-written for mass consumption but clearly possessing depth and brilliance.

But would the intellectual folks read it? Probably not. A lot of "intellectuals" approaching film carry with them the same bias toward the "common rabble" that poisons other bodies of criticism.

So those of us who watch movies like Blade for more than just explosions and gore but also love those elements just get tired of trying to convince the bigoted high brow to wake up. So we say "Its an action film, it wasn't meant to be an art-film! Enjoy the ride!" because we don't feel like throwing pearls before swine.