Blood: The Last Vampire |
 | Summary:Mainstream action/horror follows an elusive warrior and two agents during an incursion of a military base on the brink of the "Vietnam War". It's often frenetic action/violence & striking visuals should occupy genre lovers. However, it's dense plot, humdrum character development; excruciatingly curt 'run-time' will distract anime fans. |
| Title Aka: | N/A |
| Company/Distributors: | Production I.G./SVW;SCEI;IG Plus;IPA;Manga Entertainment |
| Year: | 2000 |
| Length: | 46 Minutes |
| Rating: |   |
| Genres: | Action, Horror |
| Format: | Feature Film |
| Content Level: |
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| Comments: | N/A |
Synopsis:
-In "Blood: The Last Vampire", Manga Entertainment's latest endeavor; the hunting grounds for three protagonists & a few antagonists are a brooding military complex, a dark and murky atheneum; & lastly an airport runway. A single character serves as emotional leverage... The differences between conventional genres & vampire animes is that, despite the fact of being a rather bromide proclivity outside this hugely popular realm of film making; sadly, the vampires are what really end up becomming the platitudes. This however, never goes without saying if your an animé fan. Every single ardent follower of the medium realizes that the Japanese are masters of the trade; good old "John Carpenter" may be a monolith to the cause, but the influence of Japan's disposition to immortal 'nightwalkers' is foremost compulsory in the eyes of horror onlookers. It's roots flooded the animation realm in the form of the elusive "D", who's dark charm & bone-chilling presence on animated film molded him into a cult figure in the animé world. Many characters would follow but few's status would be able to measure up to D's undeniable spark. We love the sword, the hat; & the plethora of carbon copies, though we'd become loathsome to admit it more than often. Despite any praise it may embed into itself, many can argue that "VHD" is no masterwork, on that note: neither are it's many followers. However, vampire anime genres don't always have to be cookie-cutter plot line's with fixations of styles; something far beyond the redolence of a happy ending. "Vampire Princess Miyu" and "Nightwalker" are good examples. There's a nasty reality about vampire animes that prones a perhaps unpleasant solitude in the eyes of viewers. You have your basic action & characters, and you seldom have both w/this genre. In the end, in order to have good blood thirsty entertainment it seems that you have to make do with one of them. Miyu may have been a masterpiece, but you're not going to see any Vampire Hunter D followers jumping on that band wagon. "Blood" is an inaccurate action movie cleverly disguised as a period action film; though it's not the sort of period movie you're thinking of. It's basic plot-line follows a narrative on the brink of America's first regularly televised war; the "Vietnam War". And speaking of that point in history, maybe it would've done a lot more good if people payed more attention to the T.V. and not "Saya's" target-blistering battle w/the non-formidable vampire monsters (Vampires don't bite peoples' necks in Blood, they're mutilation machines like our hero!). Like her abomidable foes, Saya appears to be seemingly inept of decent human contact; which is just fine considering what she really is. She's basically a hack-n'-slash machine, programed for destruction & existing for antithesis. There are the gruff and considerably unsightly agents aiding Saya in her quest, these two supply the guidance to Saya as if a finicky child; she requests a brand new sword and is told she cannot have it. To her it is simply a play thing imperative to getting the job done, it is killing the antagonist vampires. Yet unlike most vampire anime flicks, an antithesis is never the purpose of promoting 'anti-parasitism' of human beings; the objective is annihilation; Saya and her 'off-the-record' partners are the only antithesis to a storyline moving at a promising pace. To explain the plot of Blood is to once again proceed to engage in 'SPOILERS'. I've no intention of doing such, since there's not much to spoil in the first place. If you want to spoil the plot of the film for yourself, just read behind every box label you can get. You'll find it will take much longer than watching the actual movie. Review:
"Blood: The Last Vampire" is a fast, ambitious & zealously-crafted action movie; nothing more. In the eyes of the observer, it is a unique visual achievement. It is also one of the few anime movies to obtain 'short-lived' theatrical release & Blood is a movie which perhaps would have been more engaging, had it manipulated more of it's terrain, twisted more of it's notions and visions; utilized the technology instead of flashing it between our eyes & over our heads. It's protagonist is a brooding yet attractive looking young female warrior (Who's lips happen to be twice as large as "Jessica Alba's"). The elusive "Saya" is a killing machine w/a sharp sword and uncertain past. While we are never given the opportunity to witness this history, we soon loose interest as we are treated to some fine fight-choreography. On a plus note, the action sequences in Blood, though rather short; are fast, fluid and dynamic; offering much detail about Saya's abilities and consuetudes. Unfortunately, we were treated to better (Not to mention a lot deeper) exposition on account of "Kishiro Yukito's" 'Gally/Alita' in Battle Angel. Which, if anyone remembers (Or wishes to remember) was a lot smarter and not to mention touching. To bring up the notions of touching is to take the video/DVD of Blood and shove it down one's own throat. Anyone who plans to watch Blood expecting an emotional triumph of human dignity or spirit are kidding themselves; they're in it for the remarkable action whether they want to admit it or not; heck even I was on that one & I find most action exposition to be extremely boring. However, when done correctly like in an earlier endeavor "Ghost In The Shell", in doesn't hurt to fill the void by executing marvelous commentary. That for which Blood is extremely lacking. Now my job here is to recommend a commendable and quality vampire action movie. I'm not supposed to be dumbing-down Blood for lack of emotional bent. If that were the case here, believe me; I wouldn't even dream of it since I love "Kitaku---!@". Oh gosh!, did I forget to mention that "Hiroyuki Kitakubo" is in fact the director of "Blood"?! That's right people, the man who directed the riotous "Golden Boy" has made a vampire horror film. Not "Kawajiri", not "Oshii"; "Kitakubo". In fact, it would be wrong for me to say that Kitakubo is in fact inappropriate for this project. I don't doubt in my mind that he's a highly versatile and innovative director for these types of genre films; but I mean come on' folks! Can this guy really direct a film which is as good as "Kawajiri's" dark & suspensful action bursts or maybe I'll even go as far as to say "Toyoo Ashida"?! I'm not exactly sure if he'd want to direct a film like this, let alone be able to direct it. Blood represents a new wave of Japanese animation, and it will most likely erupt as the conventional stardard for commonplace CGI and digital-cel; which the present anime industry has seemed to find a good home in. The important thing is that it pleases the fans, the visionaries & also manages to bring in the big bucks. However, I don't see any of this potential glory and history eminating from a movie so untune and lacking any sort of bite (No pun intended!). Perhaps the largest problem of Blood's illustrious countenance is it's sheer length. At nearly 46-minutes, (Even shorter than something like "Twilight Of The Dark Master"!) it's not a surprise that it fails to gain any momentum throughout. On that note, Blood is blisteringly violent in tone, and dark through uncanonical manipulation of camera/movement. While some scenes offer the finest in animation 'realistic-movement' rendering, it's not enough to fill the voids of it's unequivocally inadequate sense of execution or timing. Like most things about Blood, it's music is also ambitious but could have used a bit more tonal quality; where's "Kenji Kawai" when you need him? And yet, Blood seems to lack even the visceral and dramatic tone necessary for genre fans' embullience of 'blood-letting' or thriller/horror verve. It becomes clear that even from first glance the film's emotional drive is going nowhere, whether through history or plot derivation. In the end, Saya is a more shallow character than even the carnivorous immortals. Oh, I forgot; they can be killed after all. Like most targets in a mindless popcorn movie; self-described by the producers as having a degree of Hollywood in them. It's perhaps further proof that Japan is still the foremost leader in this animation genre. Blood's vision and technicality are near the top of it's class: crisp, clear & abysmal in sheer look. However, it's ideas and visions are too great for it to contain. In the end, "Blood" is foremost sheer professionalism without a hint of inspiration. Click Here To See Overview! |
conventional-like praise from a few Hollywood big-shots like "James Cameron" & the directors of the "Matrix" films. So is Blood deserving of all these things on these levels of film making; yes, I wouldn't argue that at all. But for the reasons it doesn't fulfill itself within bounds of emotional structure is so rampant, that it almost crosses the lines of conceptual abhorrence; for audiences and animators. As an individual I'm perhaps not at liberty to say this, but I mean look people; you'd think that hyped endeavors like "Blue Sub 6." or even "X" didn't suffer from similar problems. I would not at all be surprised if one of the film's planners, the illustrious "Oshii" did not criticize such notions himself. It would be an equal surprise if he himself did not recognize these aspects first. The directors, animators & producers of the film seem to share this common attribute of overlooking the potential opportunities of Blood. This is the ultimate disappointment of a perhaps, often visually stunning vampire movie. The film is the first of it's kind, well at least for it's own country; this is proudly Japan's first attempt at complete digital cel work. While Oshii's "Ghost In The Shell" opened the doors for utilization of the technology commonplace to Blood, this movie attempts to render it fully in 2-D/3-D realism. Do I feel the film succeeds? Well, the answer is both yes and no.