October Horror Challenge 2023 #79: "Blade II"

Sequels are hard to make, especially when the first movie was so cool and such a success that it's a tough act to follow. Roughly 89% of sequels aren't as good as the original film, according to statistics I just made up, so "Blade II" had it rough from the start. The original was a surprise hit, and no one expected it to do as well as it did, so the sequel needed to make a lot more money in order to be considered a success. The original movie was so cool that I didn't think a sequel could touch it, so I honestly wasn't expecting much when I settled in to watch Blade II.To put it mildly, I was blown away by how much I enjoyed this sequel. Getting to revisit it again today was the logical next step after watching the first movie again, so that's what I'm doing.

In this sequel, Blade, the half human half vampire antihero, is back and broodier than ever! Now Blade has always had a complicated relationship with vampires, considering that he's partially a vampire himself (as he puts it, "I have all of their strengths and none of their weaknesses"). This time around, however, he is forced to join forces with the vampire as they face a common enemy: the reapers, a race of super-vampires that are hellbent on wiping out both vampires and humans. Jerks. Will Blade team up with the vampires to help defeat the reapers? Can he trust the vampires not to screw him over (probably not)? Who will win this epic battle of the wills?

I forgot that Norman Redus is in this movie. He looks so young! We all were younger way back in 2002 when this movie originally came out. In the absence of Stephen Dorff, the villains in this movie look pretty cool and appropriately gross and evil. There's a fair amount of gore, though nothing as cool as the blood shower from the first movie. Some of the characters return, and Blade is faced with an ethical and moral dilemma that forces him to make a choice he desperately doesn't want to make. As much as Blade pretends to be all aloof and uncaring, just a killing machine, he clearly does care about his friends and we definitely see that in this movie. Overall, this is a good sequel and a worthy follow up to the original movie. Other moviegoers apparently agree with me, since this movie made about $155 million worldwide. Check this one out! You won't be disappointed.