I can not believe that 20 years have passed so quickly. It feels like the year of 2002 is not that far away, that it´s gone too fast. 2002 was a very special year for me personally, since this was the year that i met my Scottish friend Sharon in Spain, while i was there on vacation. Sharon stayed at the same hotel, and one night i walked right up to her while she was sitting alone. It turns out she travelled there all by herself, as a 30 years birthday gift to herself. I felt sorry for her, that no one left to Spain with her, but we became close friends instantly. That week we spend every day together, and right before she went back to Scotland, she invited me to celebrate New Years Eve in Edinburgh in 2002. I did travel to London first, wich was my first stop on that journey. After that i continued to Edinburgh, wich turned out to be the greatest New Years Eve party i have ever been to. They have all dressed up as vikings, since i was a guest from Sweden, while we walked down Princess Street in Edinburgh. This was probably one of the few New Years Party´s that i have been so drunk, that i could barely walk. I do remember that my Scottish friend John fell asleep on a chair, hanging down towards the floor. This is one of those journeys i did that i will never forget. 2002 turned out to be a great music year, especially with the release of American metal band Korn´s 5th studio album Untouchables. I used to play this album all the time, with so many great tracks such as Here To Stay, Thoughtless, Alone I Break and many more. This is one of those albums that will never age, because it is such a damn good studio album. Since we are talking about the year of 2002, this was the year we also got to see the psychological thriller Insomnia ( the American remake of the Norwegian film of the same name ), with very strong acting performances from Al Pacino and Robin Williams. Al Pacino plays LAPD detective Will Dormer, who investigate a murder case in fishing town Nightmute, Alaska with his partner Hap Eckhart ( Martin Donovan ), where a 17 year old girl was found murdered. If you love psychological thrillers, this is a really good choice with top quality acting, and beautiful scenery from Alaska. How many of you remember the action horror film Blade from 1998? Wesley Snipes played the vampire hunter Blade, who is a human-vampire hybrid, fighting against vampires who are trying to control the world. Blade is one of those late 90´s films that is still really fun to watch, delivering great action scenes and fun dialogue. I have to mention that actor Stephen Dorff as the evil Deacon Frost, is also a highlight in this film. 4 years later we got a sequel in 2002, simply known as Blade 2. Since the sequel of Blade turns 20 years in 2022, i thought it would be fun to revisit the film and see how i feel about it, 20 years later? Is it possible that Blade 2 is even better after 20 years, or is this a sequel that have not aged very well at all?
Blade ( Wesley Snipes ) searches Prague for his mentor Abraham Whistler ( Kris Kristofferson ) who was thought dead after being attacked by Deacon Frost ( Brad Dourif ), but was instead turned into a vampire and held prisoner for two years. Blade rescues Whistler and cures him. Whistler meets Scud ( Norman Reedus ), Blade´s young new technician. Whistler does not like the way Scud works, and let him know that. They suddenly have uninvited vampire guests attacking Blade, who later find out that they have been sent to ask Blade for help. A new vampire species called "Reapers" are taking over, and they are causing even more danger than ordinary vampires. If they take over, the whole world will be lost. So they ask Blade to help them by helping a special vampire unit called The Bloodpack, who are trained to kill. But this mission, could be more complicated than they predicted.
There is no other way to say this, but Blade 2 could be one of the best film sequels in the last 20 years. And i am just being honest, since sequels are usually not better than the original film. I actually prefer Blade 2 before the first film for a number of reasons. First of all this film have some really powerful action scenes that still look really good. The martial art scenes with Wesley Snipes as Blade is a hell of a lot fun, and still have a lot of power. You can feel that they worked really hard to make all of this work on the big screen. I love the idea of Blade helping other vampires to fight a new dangerous species known as "Repears", gives you a complete different plot than the first film. I think they made a really good choice, by choosing this plot instead of just making a Blade sequel. The vampire team The Bloodpack, have some really interesting characters. I especially enjoy legendary actor Ron Perlman as the character Dieter Reinhardt, who is not only a big asshole, but he have a loud mouth as well. The scenes between him and Wesley Snipes deliver some of the funniest scenes in the film, as they are clearly not getting along. Martial arts action start Donnie Yen as the vampire character Snowman, is one of the coolest characters in this film. His battle scene towards some of the Reapers deliver some really fun action sequences. What about Wesley Snipes himself? No one could play Blade like he does, so he is definetely a perfect match for this role. Legendary singer, songwriter and actor Kris Kristofferson is once again really good as the character Abraham, who is especially annoyed by the new weaponsmith Spud ( played great by The Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus ). Actor Luke Goss ( who is a member of the pop band Bros ) is definetely fun as the insane Reaper vampire Jared Nomak, who knows how to put on a show. There is a lot of violence in this film, and plenty of body parts being destroyed, and i love the insane level of action scenes that this film just keeps delivering. Director Guillermo del Toro ( who have directed a lot of really good films, especially Pacific Rim ) knows exactly how to capture the right tone of Blade from the comic books, and transform that feeling to the big screen. Not onlu does this film look really good, the plot is much stronger than most films in this genre. Blade 2 is without a doubt one of my favourite sequel films of all time. Maybe not as much as i love the 1986 film Aliens, but definetely the best sequel we have had in a very long time. A film you need to experience and learn how you combine action and horror in a very professional way. Since the film turns 20 years in 2022, we need to celebrate that worldwide next year. So i suggest you all pick up the film on DVD or Blu ray, and let´s all have a fantastic start of the new year. There is no question about it, we need Wesley Snipes as Blade to remind us what quality means, and this is exactly what Blade 2 deliver.
Rating: DDDD
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