Blade: Trinity

Blade: Trinity

Theatrical release poster
Directed by David S. Goyer
Produced by
Written by David S. Goyer
Based on Blade
by Marv Wolfman
Gene Colan
Starring
Music by
Cinematography Gabriel Beristain
Edited by
  • Conrad Smart
  • Howard E. Smith
Production
company
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release dates
  • December 8, 2004 (2004-12-08)
Running time
 113 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $65 million[1]
Box office $128.9 million[1]

Blade: Trinity (also known as Blade III or Blade III: Trinity) is a 2004 American superhero film written, produced and directed by David S. Goyer, who also wrote the screenplays to Blade and Blade II. It stars Wesley Snipes, who also produced, in the title role based on the Marvel Comics character Blade alongside Ryan Reynolds, Jessica Biel, Kris Kristofferson, Dominic Purcell, Parker Posey and Triple H.

It is the third film in the Blade film series. The film grossed over $128 million at the U.S. box office on a budget of $65 million. On Rotten Tomatoes, Blade: Trinity has a 25% approval rating and a critical consensus that it "seems content to emphasize style over substance and rehash familiar themes", although the review in Rotten Tomatoes, the film received generally mixed reviews, praising Wesley Snipes and the cast performances and its action sequences but found its villain and storyline poor. It was followed by 2006's Blade: The Series.

Plot

Vampires investigate an ancient tomb in the Syrian Desert, which they believe belongs to Dracula, the first vampire. To keep Blade from interfering, they frame him for the murder of a human familiar. FBI agents subsequently locate Blade's hideout and kill his mentor and friend, Abraham Whistler. Demoralized, Blade surrenders and is arrested.

The vampires' familiars have arranged for the authorities to turn Blade over to them. He is rescued by Hannibal King and Abigail Whistler, Abraham's daughter, who invite Blade to join their band of vampire hunters, the Nightstalkers. From them, Blade learns that Danica Talos, an old enemy of King's, has revived Dracula, or "Drake", with the goal of using his powers to cure vampires of their weaknesses. As the first of the vampires, Drake's DNA is untainted and he is able to survive in sunlight. The Nightstalkers have created an experimental bioweapon known as Daystar, capable of killing vampires at the genetic level. However, they need a purer blood source to make it effective. As Drake is too powerful to kill via normal means, they hope that the virus will kill him and, with his blood in the mix, ensure the rest of the species is wiped out

Eager to test Blade, Drake isolates him from the Nightstalkers, as he considers them unworthy of challenging him. He explains that all humans and vampires are inferior in his eyes and that he intends to wipe them from the Earth. Abigail finds evidence of Drake's true plan: a network of farms where humans are drained of their blood for vampire consumption. Told the humans are all brain dead, Blade deactivates the farm's life support systems.

Returning to the Nightstalkers's hideout, they find all of them dead except for King and Sommerfield's daughter Zoe, who have been taken captive. A recording left by Sommerfield, Daystar's creator, reveals that Drake's blood is needed to render it effective. King is tortured by the vampires for information, but refuses to talk, even when they threaten to feed him Zoe's blood.

Blade and Abigail arrive and free the captives. Drake eventually bests Blade in single combat and prepares to kill him with his own sword. Abigail fires the Daystar arrow but Drake catches it before it strikes him. He drops it to the floor by Blade. At the last second, Blade stabs him with it, triggering a chemical reaction that kills Danica and the rest of her followers. As Drake slowly succumbs to his wounds, he praises Blade for fighting honorably, but warns him that he will eventually succumb to his need for blood, thus creating a new type of vampire.

From here there are several different endings:

Cast

Production

Production troubles

Reportedly, series star Wesley Snipes was unhappy with the film's script and original choice of director. David S. Goyer, who had written all three films in the franchise, was then selected to replace the original director of the film, which Snipes protested. Snipes reportedly caused difficulty during filming, including frequently refusing to shoot scenes, often forcing director Goyer to use stand-ins and computer effects to add his character to scenes. Co-star Patton Oswalt alleged that Snipes would spend much of his time smoking marijuana in his trailer, and that he had become violent with Goyer after falsely accusing him of racism. It has also been alleged that Snipes refused to interact with Goyer or his co-stars, and would instead communicate with them through his assistant or the use of notes. Snipes also allegedly referred to co-star Ryan Reynolds by the racial slur "cracker" on one or more occasions.[3][4]

Language

In the DVD special features[5] Goyer talks about how cities are often multilingual. For example, Blade: Trinity is shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where signs are in English. Goyer used Esperanto and its flag as part of the fictional city where Blade is set.[6] The Esperanto flag is shown twice, at the entrance to the Police headquarters after Blade is rescued from jail, and in the rooftop scene where Drake threatens to drop a baby over the edge.[6] Background elements such as signs and advertisements include Esperanto translations. Hannibal King is at one point seen watching the Esperanto language film Incubus on television; one reviewer remarked that first time director "Goyer's grasp of directorial fundamentals (such as when to tilt the camera and when to shoot in close-up) is about as strong as Shatner's fluency in Esperanto."[7] The film's director of photography, Gabriel Beristain, makes a cameo appearance as the one-eyed newspaper vendor who talks to Whistler in Esperanto and discusses the public perception that Blade is a menace to society.

Release

Box office

The film's American box office gross was $52 million, and the total worldwide gross was $128.9 million.[1] This matched the first Blade's take but came behind Blade II, which grossed $150 million worldwide.[8][9]

Lawsuit

In 2005, Snipes sued New Line Cinema and Goyer, claiming that the studio did not pay his full salary, that he was intentionally cut out of casting decisions and filmmaking process, despite being one of the producers, and that his character's screen time was reduced in favor of costars Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel.[10]

Critical reception

The film earned an approval rating of 25% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 165 reviews. The consensus reads: "Louder, campier, and more incoherent than its predecessors, Blade: Trinity seems content to emphasize style over substance and rehash familiar themes."[11] Rotten Tomatoes included the film at 76 out of 94 on a countdown (from 94 to 1) of "worst to best" comic book to film adaptations.[12]

Roger Ebert, who gave Blade 3 stars out of 4[13] and Blade II 3½ stars,[14] gave Blade: Trinity 1½ stars, writing: "It lacks the sharp narrative line and crisp comic-book clarity of the earlier films, and descends too easily into shapeless fight scenes that are chopped into so many cuts that they lack all form or rhythm."[15]

Soundtrack

A soundtrack containing hip hop music and electronic music was released on November 23, 2004 by New Line Records. It peaked at #68 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and #15 on the Top Soundtracks.

Potential reboot

By August 2012, the film rights to Blade had reverted to Marvel Studios.[16] At San Diego Comic Con 2015, Snipes told IGN that both he and Marvel are now in talks about bringing Blade back in theaters.[17][18]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Blade: Trinity (2004)". Box Office Mojo. 2005-02-24. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
  2. ↑ Russo, Tom (2005-04-26). "Blade: Trinity (2005)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2014-07-08.
  3. ↑ "Patton Oswalt on his most memorable roles and giving life advice to Dane Cook".
  4. ↑ "eFilmCritic - Drugs, Stand-Ins, Mood Swings and Legal Action: The Real Wesley Snipes".
  5. ↑ David S Goyer. 'Nightstalkers, Daywalkers and Familiars: The World of Blade: Trinity.
  6. 1 2 António Martins, (16 March 2004). "Flags of the World, Blade Trinity, Unnamed City in the USA". Retrieved 2009-10-27.
  7. ↑ Nick Schager (July 6, 2004). "Blade: Trinity, Film Review". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on 2009-03-17. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
  8. ↑ "Blade (1998)". Box Office Mojo. IMDB. 1998-10-16. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
  9. ↑ "Blade II (2002)". Box Office Mojo. IMDB. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
  10. ↑ Shprintz, Janet (2005-04-20). "Snipes throwing legal blade at 'Trinity' team". Variety. Retrieved 2014-07-08.
  11. ↑ "Blade: Trinity (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  12. ↑ "Comix Worst to Best". Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2014-07-08.
  13. ↑ Blade :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews
  14. ↑ Roger Ebert Blade II : Reviews
  15. ↑ Roger Ebert Blade: Trinity : Reviews
  16. ↑ Kit, Borys (August 14, 2012). "Fox's Daredevil Rights on Verge of Reverting to Marvel as Ticking Clock Looms (Video)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 15, 2012. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  17. ↑ The Player: Wesley Snipes, Philip Winchester Interview - Comic-Con 2015. 10 July 2015 – via YouTube.
  18. ↑ Snipes "In Talks" With Marvel About Blade Reboot - IGN News. 10 July 2015 – via YouTube.

External links

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