Blade 2 (2002)

Dir: Guillermo del Toro

This gory but mundane sequel finds our fearless vampire killer (Wesley Snipes) joining forces with his undead nemeses, in order to defeat the Reapers, a new strain of super-vamps with explodey faces and curiously long tongues. This entails, essentially, a two hour chase through the neon-drenched streets of Prague. Two hours is a long time. The visual style is slicker than in the first film and the explodey face effect on the Reapers is fantastic. However, this one's let down by having almost no storyline at all. What little there is lacks pace or focus and it renders even the most visually striking of action sequences quite dull and meaningless. The film's also SERIOUSLY overlong although I did appreciate the way that, in the final reel, there is a sprinkle of reassuring dialogue like "it's nearly over" and "it won't be long now" (just to ensure no one leaves the cinema early, I suppose). Basically, unless the sight of Ron Perlman in a shiny rubber suit, blowing bubblegum, appeals to you (in which case, can I just pause to say "eww"?) then you're better off skipping this one. *