Director: David S. Goyer / Writers: Marv Wolfman & Gene Colan

Cast: Wesley Snipes .... Blade / Kris Kristofferson .... Abraham Whistler / Ryan Reynolds .... Hannibal King / Jessica Biel .... Abigail Whistler / Parker Posey .... Danica Talos / Cascy Beddow .... Flick

Wesley Snipes shows up once again to kill vampires stalking the nights. At the outset, he's got all his favorite toys, the blade car, some new vampire killing knives and gadgets and his old buddy Whistler, who didn't quite get killed in the first movie and got more or less resurrected in the second.

Shortly after the credits roll though, Blade has lost everything, and Whistler has departed the script with a bang. "Sorry I got old on you Blade..." The irony here is that what got old wasn't Whistler, it's Blade's attitude. The rage filled loner is so yesteryear, and though Whistler tries to hook Blade up with a new crop of Gen X vampire hunters before he dies, Blade just can't relate to them, though he tolerates them for the movie. The truth is that we can't relate to Blade anymore either. And that's a good thing.

What follows should have been the end of the trilogy, but they flinch in the epilogue, allowing themselves room for more movies. And they call vampires blood suckers. Ha.

All in all, it's a lot of fast paced vampire killing action and though it may not solve any of the eternal mysteries of life for you, it's a fun way to spend a few hours in the dark. "Hang in there kitten," Reynolds offers to his expiring vampiress tormentor, "I'll go for help." Or a bigger stake, which ever comes first.

What I find really interesting about Blade ? Trinity is the wide range of age and gender perspectives it presents.

Drake (Draco, Dracula) - Pre Modern - Honor, Tribe
Whistler - Late Pre-Modern - Duty, Family, Friendship
Blade - Modern Man - Nihilism, Self
Hannibal King - Post Modern / Post Feminist Man - World Community
Whistler's Mother - Traditionalist, Victim
Dancia Posey - Modern/Post Modern - Bitch Alpha Male
Whistler's Daughter - New Traditionalist - Militant

I mean, it's quite a collection of worldviews. Unfortunately for Snipes, his "kicking it up old school" routine comes off as the most tired and pointless of the lot. Drake/Draco/Dracula expresses his kinship to Blade as a fellow warrior with a sense of honor, unlike the modern humans and vampires which he can't stand, but he's wrong. Blade isn't a warrior or hero, he's just a killing machine. My favorite couple in the piece is Parker Posey's Vamp Bitch and Ryan Reynolds? wisecracking new-age guy. She's out to suck his blood dry, or at least dominate him and he's just trying to get ownership of his soul...while not losing his sense of humor. Though she's pretty, in femme fighter sort of way, Whistler's Daughter, played by Jessica Biel, doesn't have much of a clue...if she's unlucky she'll grow up to be just like Blade.

Actually, I enjoyed Blade - Trinity quite well. Among other things, the sound track is as full of energy as any of the others, and though the story line leans a bit too heavily on trying to recreate the first film, I thought it worked out fine.

If you can't let reality go, you shouldn't be at the movies in the first place...for a dark superhero comic book action vampire movie I give it three out of four stars, though the weakness ironically comes from Blade himself, whose isolation keeps us from connecting to him as much as it keeps him from connecting to anyone else in the cast. Dracula?er?Drake on the other hand comes off much more human...but then he usually does in these things. Snipe's acting, or his character, is so wooden you could put a point on him and drive him through a vampire's heart. At least Vampires have hearts, something that seems to have been left out of the "Daywalker"'s makeup.