{"id":1747,"date":"2009-10-14T17:02:50","date_gmt":"2009-10-14T23:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.allouttabubblegum.com\/main\/?p=1747"},"modified":"2009-10-14T17:02:50","modified_gmt":"2009-10-14T23:02:50","slug":"vampires-kung-fu-and-techno","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/vampires-kung-fu-and-techno\/","title":{"rendered":"Vampires, Kung Fu and Techno"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Blade<\/p>\n

[THE CHALK-OUTLINE]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Blade (1998): Breakdown by Kain424<\/span><\/h3>\n

Half vampire\/half human vampire hunter kills vampires.\u00a0 Really, that’s about it.<\/p>\n

[THE EXECUTION]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Before the X-Men<\/strong> movies jumpstarted the comic book movie decade, there were only a few good comic book movies.\u00a0 The Punisher<\/strong>, The Crow<\/strong>, arguably the first two Batman<\/strong> films, and Blade<\/strong> (for why Superman sucks, go here<\/a>).\u00a0 While The Punisher<\/strong> never saw a U.S. release and thus had little success, Blade<\/strong> was able to make a splash with its wide release.<\/p>\n

\"Blade<\/p>\n

Blade is a dark film with loads of bad-assery.\u00a0 Its title character is an unflinching killing machine, played with a subdued fury by Wesley Snipes.\u00a0 His look is clearly an influence on later films, like the following year’s The Matrix<\/strong>, and Blade<\/strong> even boasts the use of what would later be dubbed “bullet time”.\u00a0 Director Stephen Norrington allows wacky visuals to punctuate what would otherwise be just silly, making rapping Japanese schoolgirls creepy and a romantic sunset scene as dark as the execution that precedes it.\u00a0 And when you see two people lovingly holding hands as another man explodes in front of them, you know you’re watching a classic.<\/p>\n

\"Blade<\/p>\n

The movie also features fun performances by Udo Kier, Donal Logue and Stephen Dorff, defying logic and actually making the latter into a sort of bad-ass.\u00a0 Kris Kristofferson’s side-character, Whistler, nearly steals the show, but ultimately gives the movie its heart, something that seems as unexpected as Wesley Snipes giving a reserved performance in an Action film.<\/p>\n

Other than it’s interesting casting choices, what Blade really has going for it is it’s violence.\u00a0 Seemingly with no regard for whatever rating they land on, the movie shows vampires in all their gory glory.\u00a0 So in addition to gunfights, sword fights, martial arts battles and car chases, we also get blood-sucking and impalings.\u00a0 The movie flinches less than it’s main character, maintaining a serious tone throughout, giving the protagonist an opportunity to actually be<\/em> bad-ass instead of just saying he is.<\/p>\n

\"Blade<\/p>\n

The score is effective here, though the techno now seems a bit dated.\u00a0 A classic New Order song remixed into a techno rave tune heads the film into that territory, but the Carpenter-like themes playing under the serious moments do wonders for the rest.<\/p>\n

All that said, the film boasts its share of problems with being obviously dated to the 90s, having a weak female protagonist, and some shoddy CGI effects.\u00a0 Still, the movie remains vastly entertaining, with Snipes acting as the solid center to an Action flick that successfully mixes in horror to make excellence.<\/p>\n

[HOW BAD-ASS IS THE MAIN CHARACTER?]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Blade\"<\/p>\n

Wesley Snipes<\/a> is Blade is Eric Brooks<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Snipes pulls off the character seemingly without effort.\u00a0 He is astute and awesome, mixing a warrior’s cunning with super-strength and sweet-ass martial arts skills.\u00a0 Blade is a ferocious bad-ass who fights without pity and without fear.\u00a0 He’s a bad-ass that doesn’t let it get to his head, and in his fight scenes you can almost feel him holding back.\u00a0 He’s a bad-ass that could really ruin your day, but he’s just going to hit you a couple times.<\/p>\n

…Unless you’re a vampire.\u00a0 Then you’re dead.\u00a0 Again.<\/p>\n

-Drives a modded 1968 Dodge Charger
\n-Dresses in awesome black body armor and leather trench coat
\n-Carries a booby-trapped samurai sword, lined with acid
\n-Carries guns that kill vampires and can fire silver stakes
\n-Carries lots of said silver stakes
\n-Carries silver ‘Glave-like’ boomerang thing also great for killing the undead
\n-Can kick your ass without any of these things<\/p>\n

[THE BODY COUNT: 111]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Blade<\/p>\n

Even aside from the killing, Blade<\/strong> is a violent film.\u00a0 The R rating allows for extended brutal fight sequences, bloody, gory violence, and general creepiness.\u00a0 And within, we have gunshot, disintegration, stabbing, slicing, impaling, tearing out throats, beating, neck breaking, burning, and exploding.\u00a0 All, of course, are fatal.\u00a0 Snipes kills 65<\/a> vampire scum all by himself, with Kristoferson and Dorff rounding out much of the rest.<\/p>\n

[MOST SATISFYING DEATH]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Blade\"<\/p>\n

While I admit that the CGI looks a bit poor anymore, I still think the final death of the film is pretty cool.\u00a0 Bullet-time and all, Frost’s demise from the sword-fight to the final, ugly explosion, is pretty cool.<\/p>\n

[DUDESWEAT AND MACHISMO]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Blade doesn’t seem too interested in women, but his relationship with Whistler seems more like a father-son type.\u00a0 I’m not sure where to go with this one.\u00a0 I guess you could go into the character’s obsession with leather outfits, but it all feels like a bit of a stretch.<\/p>\n

[EXPLOITATION AND MISOGYNY]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Like a lot of the films from the 1990s, Blade tries very hard to make its female characters tough and convincing.\u00a0 N’Bush Wright (no idea how to pronounce that) is snarky and apparently very intelligent.\u00a0 We know this because she’s a doctor.\u00a0 She’s given dialogue that let’s us know she doesn’t take shit, but that’s about as far as that goes.<\/p>\n

\"Karen\"<\/p>\n

Aside from her, we have a couple occasions where female vampires act like prey or are exceptionally deceptive, hinting that women are not to be trusted.\u00a0 But since the male vampires are just as bad, if not worse, I can’t really put to much STAKE in this one.\u00a0 Get it?\u00a0 I said… ok, fine.<\/p>\n

[EPIC MOMENT AND BEST ONE-LINER]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

My favorite moment of the film is the introduction of Blade’s character.\u00a0 He just shows up at a rave where blood has been pouring from the ceiling and doesn’t have a drop on him.\u00a0 He then proceeds to take on anything and anyone in the packed room that comes near him.\u00a0 Blade’s a fucking bad-ass like that.<\/p>\n

\"Blade<\/p>\n

Best line?<\/p>\n

Blade: There are worse things out tonight than vampires.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karen: Like what?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Blade: Like me.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

[THE MORAL OF THE STORY]<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Some motherfuckers are always trying to ice skate uphill.\u00a0 I’m not sure what that has to do with vampires, but Wesley Snipes said so.<\/p>\n

[THE CHECKLIST: 17 outta 25]<\/span><\/h2>\n

[\u00a0 ] Athlete(s) Turned \u201cActor\u201d
\n[X] Clinging To The Outside Of A Moving Vehicle
\n[X] Crotch Attack
\n[X] Dialogue Telling Us How Bad-Ass The Main Character(s) Is\/Are
\n[\u00a0 ] Ending Featuring An Ambulance, A Blanket or A Towel
\n[X] Factory\/Warehouse
\n[X] Giant Explosion(s)
\n[\u00a0 ] Heavy Artillery
\n[X] Improvised Weapon(s)
\n[X] Macho Mode(s) Of Transportation
\n[X] Main Character Sports Facial Accessory(s)
\n[\u00a0 ] Manly Embrace(s)
\n[\u00a0 ] Notorious Stunt-Man Sighting
\n[X] Passage(s) Of Time Via Montage
\n[\u00a0 ] Politically Fueled Plot Point(s)
\n[X] Senseless Destruction Of Property
\n[X] Shoot Out(s) and\/or Sword Fight(s)
\n[X] Slow-Motion Finishing Move(s)\/Death(s)
\n[X] Stupid Authoritative Figure(s)
\n[X] Substance Usage and\/or Abuse
\n[\u00a0 ] Tis The Season
\n[X] Torture Sequence(s)
\n[X] Unnecessary Sequel [Blade II]
\n[X] Vehicle Chase(s)
\n[\u00a0 ] Vigilante Justice<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"Whistler\"<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n

“Catch you fuckers at a bad time?”<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Blade (1998) <\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>\u00a9 New Line Cinema<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[THE CHALK-OUTLINE] Blade (1998): Breakdown by Kain424 Half vampire\/half human vampire hunter kills vampires.\u00a0 Really, that’s about it. [THE EXECUTION] Before the X-Men movies jumpstarted the comic book movie decade, there were only a few good comic book movies.\u00a0 The Punisher, The Crow, arguably the first two Batman films, and Blade (for why Superman sucks, … Read moreVampires, Kung Fu and Techno<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1747\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allouttabubblegum.com\/new-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}