Director: Stephen Norrington
Stars: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, N'bushe Wright, Kris Kristofferson
Certificate: PG
Running time: 2 hours
Made: US, 1998

AFTER the debacle that was "Spawn", not to mention "Judge Dredd", "Steel", "The Phantom" or any of the "Batman" films, you would think movie makers would reconsider the big screen realisation of yet another cult comic book character. But director Stephen Norrington has not let box office saturation prevent him from bringing to life the half human, half vampire anti-hero "Blade", in the highly desirable form of Wesley Snipes.

The film makes a nod to vampire conventions before sweeping them firmly under the carpet. Blade came about when his mother had the bite put on in late pregnancy. She died, but the doctors were able to save the baby - although not before certain changes had taken place. Blade is a Daywalker, which means he is immune to sunlight and silver (isn't that werewolves?) but still has vampire strength, healing power and the lust for blood. Blade's self-appointed task of ridding the world of vampires is hindered by his thirst, which he counters with a serum of white blood cells. During an early vampire clean-up, he rescues a stray bite victim because she reminds him of his mother. Doctor Karen (N'Bushe Wright) is feisty, tough and a haematologist to boot. She manages to cure her own bite and starts working on a fix for Blade.

Although we normal humans don't realise it, vampires are everywhere. They have back door alliances with powerful humans and offshore bank accounts. They dress in Armani and meet in cavernous boardrooms to discuss their fragile co-existence, based on discretion, reticence and large wads of cash. All this is threatened by Deacon Frost, a kind of Gen X vampire hipster who runs bloodfest raves in abbatoirs and similarly noticeable activities of slaughter. Being a made or bitten vampire rather than a pure-bred, he suffers from a kind of nouveau insecurity about his status, manifested in a desire to take over the world. He intends to raise the ancient blood god of vampires, and to do this he needs the blood of Blade, the Daywalker. And you can pretty much imagine the rest.

There's gallons of blood, impalements, explosions, decapitations, catfights and amateur dentistry. Norrington shows his style with Tarantinoesque references to "Akira", "The Lost Boys", "City of Lost Children" and probably many more I missed. The film is saved by its flashes of imagination, various icky effects, fab soundtrack and the performance of Wesley Snipes. He's having a ball, loving every minute of his hipper-than-thou characterisation and showing off his impressive martial arts prowess. Stephen Dorff as Frost is the epitome of slacker cool with his designer stubble and club kitten sidekick. Kris Kristofferson is Blade's mentor, father figure and maker of vampire-hacking gadgetry to rival the toys of James Bond. If you are looking for thought-provoking insights into the nature of evil, this is not your film. If you are happy to leave your brain at the door for a ride through the commercial culture of the undead, you'll love it.