Blade (1998) Dir: Stephen Norrington
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The 90s was a decade renowned for the grunge movement, and that stretched into the realms of cinema too. Director Stephen Norrington indulged in this, by bringing this action horror, based on the Marvel comic book character of the same name, to the fore.
It is 2 hours of intense action and epic music. The soundtrack is of the era and fits the film's aesthetic perfectly. Stylistically, it is 90s grunge at its best, and despite some of the visuals effects being undeniably dated, the film still looks incredibly cool now.
The story is functional, and leads the characters through some thrilling set-pieces along the way. The dialogue isn't the best, but that honestly doesn't matter much, because the fight scenes and aesthetics more than make up for it.
Wesley Snipes gave a really decent performance, that was, other than when he spoke. He just had a really weird way of delivering his dialogue that felt jarring - his rhythm was off. Everything else he does is very cool though.
N'Bushe Wright provided an enjoyable supporting performance, although, every so often, she'd deliver the odd line a bit strangely, though nowhere near as noticeably as Snipes.
Stephen Dorff makes for an adequate antagonist, although there were times where he came across as a little cheesy. That said, I think he did pretty good all-in-all.
I'll also mention Kris Kristofferson, who, despite having a relatively small role in comparison to his aforementioned co-stars, actually delivered the most consistent performance. He turned out to be a very solid supporting character.
Overall, this was a great example of late 90s action horror, being full of fast paced combat sequences, viscious violence and some truly badass moments. Sure, it is definitely starting to feel its age, but that doesn't mean you can't still revel in the grungy gore like others before you.
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