BLADE: TRINITY

BLADE: TRINITY is the third film about vampire-hunting "Daywalker" half-vampire Blade (Wesley Snipes). Based on the Marvel Comics character created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, the BLADE movies have always been more action than horror-oriented (director Guillermo Del Toro came the closest to making a scary one with BLADE 2). This time, writer David S. Goyer, who also scripted the previous two editions, is at the reins. He brings in something that is reasonably entertaining yet doesn't do much to deepen either the main character or the overall mythology.

In the BLADE universe, the vampire community is a big, evil, competitive underground affair, with denizens at each other's throats. They never seem to run out of ideas that could have been cooked up by Wile E. Coyote in terms of backfiring potential. This time, a vamp squad digs up a pyramid to retrieve an ancient monster who turns out to be Dracula himself (Dominic Purcell), the original progenitor of the blood-sucking species. Although Dracula eats other vampires, the new fang regime feels it's a worthwhile risk if he'll just take out their nemesis Blade. Meanwhile, Blade's existence has gotten even more uncomfortable when he's maneuvered into publicly killing a "familiar," one of the humans who helps vampires; the fallout sees Blade becoming Public Enemy Number One. He gets help from a surprising source a little band of vampire-hunting humans headed up by fast-moving Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel), who's the daughter of Blade's mentor Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), and regular-guy ex-vampire Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds).

As might be reasonably expected, BLADE: TRINITY contains plenty of neat stunts and enjoyable martial arts fights. The comparatively amiable humans make a nice contrast to Blade's continued surliness, though some of the banter tries a little too hard. The film seems a little unbalanced at times, as Dracula's fearsome abilities, which get all the billing and build-up, seem less troublesome for Blade than the intervention of the human authorities. There is also a crucial bit of miscasting with one of the supporting villains, played by a performer who seems to simply not get the genre. The upside is that this underscores how deft most of the other actors are. Snipes snarls with conviction, Biel moves smoothly and Reynolds is game as a guy who's in slightly over his head but sees no alternative. Purcell is dignified and never overdoes it as the master vamp.

In its clear desire to keep the franchise going, BLADE: TRINITY doesn't sum anything up, but it's a fun exercise in flying fists, feet and fangs.