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Blade: Trinity, a review by Rich

Blade: Trinity



Blade (Wesley Snipes) returns as the ultimate vampire hunter in the explosive third and final film, Blade: Trinity.  For years, Blade has fought against the vampires in the cover of the night. But now, after falling into the crosshairs of the FBI, he is forced out into the daylight, where he is driven to join forces with a clan of human vampire hunters he never knew existed - The Nightstalkers. Together with Abigail (Jessica Biel) and Hannibal (Ryan Reynolds), two deftly trained Nightstalkers, Blade follows a trail of blood to the ancient creature that is also hunting him, the original vampire, Dracula.

Disappointing finale to the trilogy of films, this movie fails to deliver the goods, has none of the originality of the first Blade, and does not highlight the advances in film-making, stuntwork and CGI that occured between the 2 films production dates. The acting is off the mark, especially Ryan Reynolds as the wisecracking ex-vampire who just comes across as a real prat. The whole movie reminded me of a straight to video enterprise designed to cash-in on previous success.
Poor imagery, stunted and ill fitting soundtrack, haphazard filming and characters you never care for, with a script so full of holes it could be edam, I would recommend any fans of the first 2 Blades to pretend Trinity doesn't exist.
The concept was well and truly SUCKED DRY by the end of Blade 2.
 




(From Riches Random Reviews on May 11th, 2009)

Big Jake, a review by Antares

Big Jake (1971) 72/100 - I must have had this confused with another Wayne film, because I rated it lower many years ago. This was a pretty decent popcorn western. One thing I have to say about John Wayne, he definitely got better as he aged when it came to his acting abilities. There's more of a redoubtable and stoic nature to him in the latter era films he made, as opposed to the brash, cocksure arrogance he displaced in his youth. But like in Rio Lobo from the previous year, his co-stars, with the exception of Bruce Cabot and Richard Boone, kind of let him down. Although she's only in the beginning of the film, Maureen O'Hara, who I've always loved, is the complete opposite of what I praised Wayne for a few sentences earlier. I don't know what happened to her, but she really became a subpar performer sometime in the early sixties and never really found it again. Maybe she needed a strong director to bring out the best in her, but her delivery of lines seems so empty, that I'm kind of glad she doesn't reappear. Patrick Wayne and Christopher Mitchum prove that screen presence and talent aren't genetically encoded in offspring. There are only a few moments in the film where I kind of cringed, like the staged fight scene and the last scene in particular. Now I can see why Maureen O'Hara's character threw him out, he has no loyalty. And one last thing, the music composed by Elmer Bernstein throughout the entire film, made me think I was watching the sequel to The Magnificent Seven, it sounded so similar. Shame on you Elmer, you could have put a bit more effort into it, instead of rehashing that score and collecting your fee.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on February 25th, 2015)

Xena: Warrior Princess Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Every story has a beginning and the beginning of this story I will tell you now:


Synopsis: Xena is a fearsome warlord who raids defenceless villages. And as basically every warlord of that time she wants to slay the son of Zeus: Hercules. But first she has to break him. And what better way is there than to seduce his best friend Iolaus and let them turn against each other?

My Opinion: I have to admit, the only one who really convinced me here was Xena. Neither Hercules nor Iolaus behaved liked you would expect them to. They've travelled so much together, fought side by side and back to back. And suddenly Iolaus believes her more than he does believe him and even challenges him to the death? Unlikely.

Synopsis: Xena has raised a new army but unfortunately her soldiers don't follow her code of honour. In her absence they raid a village without warning and kill every man, woman and child in it (except for the one baby she can save). Her second-in-command, Darphus, sees this as a weakness and starts a mutiny. He puts her through the gauntlet, a ritual that nobody has ever survived - until now. Now she wants revenge and she gets help in the form of Hercules who wants to stop this army, too.

My Opinion: Here they started to build up the character for her own series and except for her sudden fondness for Hercules in the end there was nothing that contradicts with her former appearance. I liked how they changed her character because she's already much more like the Xena I know and love. But Salmoneus was also great. Both shows have a good number of supporting characters that act as comic relief and Salmoneus is one of them.

Synopsis: Ares, God of War, has resurrected Darphus and has given him his favourite "pet". Xena and Hercules decide to stop him once and for all, but they are not alone. Salmoneus is still with them, even if he's not the bravest of guys. And Iolaus is also joining them, despite his and Xena's history.

My Opinion: If you watch the show you have to admit that the effects have never been the best or even slightly realistic. But if you can look past this then it's really enjoyable. It makes it up with interesting characters, cool stories and a nice potpourri of Greek, Roman, Christian and whatnot mythology.

(From Xena: Warrior Princess Marathon on November 21st, 2009)