Movie Review: Blade: Trinity
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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this is an extremely violent
action movie, which often veers into carnage usually reserved
for the horror genre. Characters are shot, sliced, dismembered,
burnt, tortured, and bled. There is a scene where a blind woman
is hunted down and killed within ear-shot of her daughter.
There are scenes of kidnapped humans in drug-induced comas
being bled to feed the vampires. Frequent profanity is played
for humor in this movie and sexual references are extremely
explicit, including incest and sex toys.
Families who see this movie could talk about the concept of honor that Drake discusses with Blade, about which character -- if any -- acts in an honorable way, and whether the concept here is used as justification for acting monstrously. Nietzche's much-used warning to "battle not with monsters, lest you become one" is the leitmotif of Blade's existence. What separates Blade from the vampires? Why does the audience revel in someone who seeks to solve all his problems with violence?
Common Sense Media Review
Let's not pretend that "Trinity", the third chapter in the
ongoing tale of a human-vampire hybrid out to kill all
vampires, is a good movie and instead say it is a solid "Blade"
movie -- meaning, if you are not already a fan, don't
bother.
Wesley Snipes still plays the title character, a tattooed human whose mother was bitten by a vampire as she was giving birth, imbuing him with his unusual abilities, such as his super-strength, pointy teeth and knack for walking away from fights without a scratch, and his invincibility to the typical bloodsucker's no-no's like sunbathing, silver, and garlic. True to his original 1973 comic book origination story, Blade is a powerful vampire-hunter and one of the first black heroes in the genre.
This time around, writer-director David S. Goyer (who wrote all three in the Blade saga and directed the forgettable ZigZag before trying his hand at directing here) drags out the uber-vampire, Dracula, for Blade to fight and perks up the movie with a couple of eye-candy, joke-cracking sidekicks. The plot is there solely to accessorize the big fight: Blade is framed by the vampires; Blade's sidekick, Whistler, is killed; the vampires dig up (literally) Dracula; things look bleak; new allies appear; a long-shot plan is hatched; and --voila -- we get our big fight.
Snipes no longer plays Blade for humor, as he did in the first Blade. Indeed, the role has lost character, humor, and emotions over the length of the trilogy. Whether busy trying to grimace through his prosthetic teeth or exploding doors with his kicks, Blade exhibits the whole range of moods from grumpy to grumpier. With his perpetual mock-turtleneck and leather overcoat, Blade now relies upon his sidekicks to provide the sexy physiques as well as the one-liners.
With the loss of Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), the dry, rough banter of old is replaced by the snarky, self-effacing irony of Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds, of Van Wilder and TV's "Two Guys and a Girl" fame), providing most of the movie's laughs. For the vampires, it is indie-movie queen, Parker Posey, who adds humor by unleashing her inner bad-girl with unapologetic, over-the-top glee as Danica Talos, the brains behind Dracula's return.
