Dark angel of redemption returns

Actor Wesley Snipes embodies the cool vampire role again in Del Toro's Blade II

One of the most bankable African-American male actors in the movie business today, Wesley Snipes has managed to command more colour-blind roles than, say, Denzel Washington and Will Smith. And this has everything to do with Snipes' choice of parts, not always good ones but certainly profitable enough to allow him to produce movies such as The Big Hit, Blade and, more recently, Blade II.
The dark half-human-half-vampire superhero is back, but this time aligning himself with his enemy vampires in order to destroy the terrifying Reapers, a new race of immortals that feeds on vampires as well as humans.
Blade II is that rare example of a sequel that actually surpasses its original. And this has everything to do with the recruitment of Mexican wunderwind Guillermo Del Toro (Cronos, The Devil's Backbone) who directed the pic.

Who's idea was it to bring in Guillermo Del Toro?
"He was one of our top choices, actually. We knew that the movie had to have a director who understood special effects, and who wanted to elevate the level of horror in the movie from the first one. That's what he's very, very good at. So we screened all his movies and we said, 'hey, this guy's a filmmaker, he understands special effects, he understands how to build suspense. And I understand all the action stuff.' A good combination made this happen."

What would you say is the biggest difference between Stephen Norrington, who directed the first Blade, and Del Toro?
"Well, beyond the horror and the suspense aspect of it, Guillermo is just a little more seasoned. He's a much more seasoned filmmaker with shots and angles and how to make a movie fit. Guillermo had pretty outrageous ideas... actually both of them did. I think that's the biggest difference."

What do you like about playing Blade?
"I get to live out a fantasy of being a superhero. Blade is the kind of guy you would love to hang out with. He's relaxed, he's energetic, he's passionate, dangerous and he's fun. I like that. It gave me a lot of chances to do a lot of different things in acting, trying to flesh out something as abstract as a comic book character. I gave it some depth. At the same time, there are smaller physical things that I like about him."

Are action films holding you back from more dramatic material?
"Not really. I always like to change. I'll do an action film, then I'll do something more dramatic or lighter or romantic. I'm basically keeping to that formula. Last year there were four films. One was Blade II, which is action, then I made Undisputed which is an action-drama about boxing with Ving Rhames, and then I did a piece called Liberty Stands Still which is a political thriller more in the lines of Dog Day Afternoon, so there's no action in it. And then I did another film where I played a crack head, so the smaller films and the more dramatic films don't get the same push as the big action films. But I keep them in the mix. Hopefully the action fan will grow to liking my dramatic films."

Is there anything intimidating in making a sequel?
"This movie is a like real good peach cobbler. You have that first taste, feels good, later on you're going back for more. There's no pressure in going back for peach cobbler a second time. That's the way I looked at this movie. I was like, 'wow, we had a good shot at it the first time, but getting a second shot at it... man.' But we needed to fix things."

Comparisons are inevitable. Which is better?
"Blade II is just ridiculous. I have to put my hands up. Blade 1 was a good shot, and surprisingly good with mystique and interest. But in terms of a complete package, the vision of the kind of movie that I would like to see, Blade II is it. Hands down."

How many more times can you see yourself playing Blade?
"I think three's the charm. Although there's something about cheques. Cheques have a way of making you go back on your word."

Was it your idea to bring back the Whistler character, who's played by Kris Kristofferson?
"Yeah, because I read a lot of fan response, and they liked the fact that Blade and Whistler were tight as a pair. They liked Whistler's energy and how Whistler was the lighter side that Blade couldn't show. So we felt we had to get the sidekick back into it somehow. So when we looked at Blade we noticed that nobody actually saw Whistler get shot, so we decided to work around that. It was the luck of the draw."

What do you like about producing?
"At the end of the day you have some control and some influence on the final product. There's nothing worse than walking down the street and people saying, 'Man I didn't like that movie and I don't understand why you did that.' And I say, 'Man, I didn't like that movie either but it wasn't the movie that I thought we were making.' The actor rarely has any influence on the editing and what shots are used. But the producer does."

How much of you is Blade?
"I'm as economical as Blade is. I don't waste a lot of energy, a whole lot of talk. If something needs to be done, I get it done. And I'm as energetic as he is. And when you see all those moves, that's a reflection of my personal taste."

There's also a romantic flavour to Blade II.
"What happens to a real tough guy when he's struck by Cupid's arrow? I thought that would be interesting to see. We tried to get a love scene, because we had built a love scene when we wrote the script. What happens when vampires have vampire sex? Lust vampire style. But it never made it to the movie. In Blade III Blade is getting laid."

Is there going to be a Blade III?
"We're talking about it. As to Guillermo, there was one day on the set when he said 'I don't think I'll do this again.' But now with the success of the film, he says, 'I can't wait to do it again.'"

How did September 11 affect you?
"In my personal life I assessed the quality of films I made. What social impact those films have. It's really wonderful to be able to do what you do well. I never really wanted to be a movie star but it turned out that way. But at the end of the day there's more to Wesley than being a movie star. Since September 11 things have been put into perspective. If the movies do well, great. If they don't do well, great, I'll do it better next time. But it's not the end of the world. My life won't be governed by a big box office weekend."

Are you a spiritual man?
"Yeah. Very much so. Everything I do is spiritually motivated and divinely inspired. It helps me keep working. There's a lot of examples that suggests that my being in this business at the level I'm at is a very unique experience. There's something divine about it. I don't take it for granted."


Blade II is currently playing in local cinemas.

Publication Date: 2002-04-07
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=1170