Blade: Trinity (Extended Version) [DVD] [2004]

Goyer was to give us two scenes that were in the two other movies scripts but were scrapped or cut due too budgeting and timing. One was a car chase involving Blade super cool car, the other was a scene showing how the vampires would survive should their plans of world domination come about. We were also promised a new team of slayers called the Nightstalkers with Ryan Reynolds playing comic book fave Hannibal King, and the lovely Jessica Biel playing Abigail, Whistlers daughter. Fight scenes were to be made more realistic and Blade was to face off against the daddy of all vampires, Dracula.

This sounded as if it was going to be by far the best in the series, all of the above sounded excellent. The execution however is a big letdown. The movie starts off okay, with the vampires searching for Dracula and finding him to be not the most friendly person. Then it movies on to the excellent introduction of Blade and the said car chase.

After this the movie seems to just lose the plot (if it has one), Whistler is killed off, Blade is captured by the FBI (a good idea actually that is again executed poorly and last about 10 mins) with the help of the vampires and Dracula, or Drake as they now call him walks around a bit and does virtually nothing. We then get a rescue from the Nightstalkers and Blade's introdcution to them.

The rest of the film continues the dissapointment, other than the blood farming scene, Blade and Dracula meet, and we think yyyeeeaahh, round 1. But Drake RUNS AWAY from Blade before holding a baby hostage while talking to him. The finale is also a huge dissapointment. Considering the finale in Blade I and II especially, with the Blade vs Nomak fight from II being the best superhero fight there is (yes even better than Spiderman vs Doc Ock), the Blade vs Drake fight is a huge anti-climax. We get a sword fight which is average and then its gets slightly better with Drake turning into beast form. But this only lasts for about two minutes and would have improved the fight it had lasted longer. I wont reveal anymore as it will spoil it. Only to say that it just doesnt live up to expectations. This is two of the most badass vampires ever going head-to-head, so I for one expected a lot more. The main gripe i have with film is that it is a Blade movie, were Blade is sidelined for other characters who are not as interesting or cool. I beleive this is due to Wesley Snipes and David Goyer arguing for large periods of the shoot, but it downgrades the movie even more.

The extended version adds about ten mintues more to the film, most of which is useless. The only good parts are a few more tidbits about Drake's past and literally a few extra seconds of Blade's reaction to the death of Whistler. The rest is absolutely useless stuff that does nothing but make the movie worse. The new darker ending is cool, but makes a scene at the end of the movie now make no sense whatsoever.

I own this movie and watch because it is Blade and most likely his last appearance, but this movie could have been so much better with either Stephen Norrington (Blade director) or especially Guillermo Del Toro (Blade II) behind the camera. A dissapointment for Goyer who is not likely to live this down for a while, as many Blade fans are furios.

Using dracula as the main bad guy was a downside to this movie because I honestly feel that there could have been other options. Also the fact that technically Blade just took on the strongest vampire suggested that it could be an end to the series. However, what they did with Dracula was semi-interesting and it was good that they didn't go all cliche with his features.

A strong point with this movie was the introduction of new characters. Jessica Biel was certainly a highlight and I believe that they should have let her character do a little more than she actually did. But considering this is Blade's movie and there is only a limited amount of time, they did a good job with her. Especially the scene at the train station.

Ryan Reynolds was bearable. I tend to dislike the comedy elements in these movies because it takes away a lot of the atmosphere that's building. But like I said, he was bearable. Some of the jokes were amusing but he still had some edge to his character that allowed the pace of the movie to continue.

Wesley Snipes' performance was well normal. It would be nice if we actually saw some emotion from his character but I won't be holding my breath for it.

Overall this movie is pretty. Something that you can put on and watch and enjoy. There is no need to over-think or over-complicate anything here because it is all handed to you on a silver plater. But it is an entertaining movie.