Blade: Trinity

It took all the way to the third "Blade" film for Dracula to finally show his fangs. It's the ultimate vampire versus the ultimate vampire hunter--who happens to be half- vampire. It's kinda like "Godzilla vs. Mothra," which was also a film for fans of the genre and the characters, which, of course, is exactly what the "Blade" films are -- a series of films for diehard "Blade" comic book fans. In that light, “Blade: Trinity” works just fine. There is nothing particularly original about it; in many ways, frankly, all three of the films in the series have exactly the same plot line (though it is less lore oriented than the first film and less of raw blood feast than the second).

As was the case in the first “Blade” film, a clandestine group of rogue vampires, led this time by Danica (Parker Posey), awakens the “Great Dark One.” That would be the founder of the vampire race, Dracula -- who's here dubbed Drake (in a soap opera-caliber contemporization) to lead them against the one called Blade. But first, they stack the deck. They lead Blade into a trap where he publicly kills a human, bringing down the wrath of the FBI. When Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) is killed--again--his daughter Abigail (Jessica Biel of television's "7th Heaven") and her sidekick Hannibal (Ryan Reynolds of “Van Wilder”) join forces with Blade to take down Drake. There's yet another potion being developed to destroy the vamps, but for it to work best it requires a sample of Drake's blood. Needless to say getting the sample will be difficult, except that it's not. For that matter neither is destroying Dracula. It takes about 100 minutes, lots of fairly cool special effects and a good deal of quips and catchphrases. Starring Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ryan Reynolds, Jessica Biel and Parker Posey. Directed and written by David S. Goyer. Produced by David S. Goyer, Lynn Harris and Wesley Snipes. A New Line release. Horror/Thriller. Rated R for strong pervasive violence and language, and some sexual content. Running time: 105 min