Blade: Trinity (Movie Post)
After being framed for murder by the very vampires he's sworn to destroy, Blade himself becomes the hunted. Captured by the vampire-corrupted police, he is soon released by a group of fellow vampire hunters known as the Nightstalkers.
Upon Blade’s release, Nightstalkers' Hannibal King and Abigail Whistler, the daughter of Blade’s former mentor, invite the Daywalker to take up arms alongside them against the vampire leader Danica Talos. Unbeknownst to them, Danica has a secret weapon of her own to take down the human race-the freshly resurrected Dracula. [via Marvel.com]
The IMDB page: Blade: Trinity (2004)
The film was written and directed by David S. Goyer, who also wrote the screenplays for the first two Blade films and was the creator of Blade: The Series, a TV series set following the films. After working with Callum on Trinity, promising him a more prominent role in a future project, Callum was cast as Detective Brian Larson in The Invisible, which was also directed by DSG.
Other actors include Wesley Snipes (White Men Can't Jump, Money Train), Parker Posey (You've Got Mail, Best in Show), Jessica Biel (7th Heaven), Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder) and Diminic Purcell (John Doe & Prison Break).
Cast / Characters:
Wesley Snipes
Kris Kristofferson
Dominic Purcell
Jessica Biel
Ryan Reynolds
Parker Posey
Mark Berry
John Michael Higgins
Callum Keith Rennie
Blade
Abraham Whistler
Drake
Abigail Whistler
Hannibal King
Danica Talos
Chief Martin Vreede
Dr. Edgar Vance
Asher Talos
Year: 2004
Runtime: 113 minutes (Theatrical) / 122 (Extended edition)
Country: USA
IMDB rating: User Rating: 5.7/10 (28,593 votes)
Genre: Action | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller
Keywords: Bad Sequel, Part Of Trilogy, Esperanto, Vampire vs. Vampire, Dog
Awards:
Saturn Award
Nominated - Best Horror Film
485 user comments
One example:
This latest installment (presumably the last) is an interesting film. It lacks the altogether cohesiveness "Blade II" had, but the kind of genre to which the Blade movies belong doesn't necessarily require a brilliant plot or script. Still, I felt they could have done a little better than Dracula. Just because he's the most famous vampire to date doesn't mean he has to be in every vampire movie or TV show (he made an appearance on the Buffy TV show a while back).
Another thing that bugged me about this movie was Ryan Reynolds, aka Hannibal King. He was added to the movie to bring some comic relief, but the thing with these movies is they operate fine without such relief. King was less funny, and more fun to laugh at. Still, there were a few moments when he brought a genuine smile to my face.
Finally, the vampires that were featured in this movie that set Dracula free are just kinda tossed in there. Again, these movies don't really need a strong explanation on everything, but "Blade II" actually did a really good job, and I felt that "Trinity" could have at least tried harder. I mean, in "Blade II" you knew why Damaskinos was doing what he was doing, and you were sympathetic towards characters like Nyssa and Nomak. But in this movie, you don't get the same kind of connection with the villains, which again I think would have been much appreciated.
But enough bad stuff about the movie. For what it is - a vampire movie starring Wesley Snipes - it's pretty fun. The final fight scene between Dracula (I refuse to call him Drake) and Blade was just as ass-kicking as Blade and Nomak. I also liked the superfluous character that Triple H played - GOD knows wrestlers are terrible actors, but this is the one movie where wrestlers could have shone, and H did a great job as just being large, scary, imposing muscle. And while Whistler is missed, the expansion of the cast good guys does make the movie a little more dynamic. And - this might seem pointless, but bear with me - while I didn't like the fact that they used Dracula, I did like the plot behind Dracula and his character. The idea of the First Vampire, never had to evolve, and able to do everything any vampire has been able to do in any capacity is fun... just felt like they sold out by choosing Dracula, could have been a little more original. But still, nicely done.
All in all, I would put this movie between "Blade" and "Blade II", with the latter being the best of the three. If you liked "Blade II", give this a whirl. If you liked "Blade", chances are you'll like this movie. And if you don't like the Blade movies but see this anyway, well, don't call it a bad movie if you knew you weren't gonna like it anyway.
You can find all the comments here.
Callum Quotient: Sadly, only about 10%
Screencaps:
Quotes:
- GRIMWOOD: What’s the chicken scratch?
DANICA: It’s cuneiform; it’s about four-thousand years-old.
GRIMWOOD: So why here?
DANICA: Because this is the Cradle of Civilization; he would have been comfortable here.
ASHER: I don’t know, Dan. This seems like another dead end.
WOLFE: There’s something beneath us.
ASHER: You find a watch? ...Is it a body?
- DANICA: We had Blade. We had him! And don’t tell me “I told you so”, Asher.
ASHER: What’s wrong, half-pint? You need a timeout?
DANICA: Blow me.
ASHER: We got caught with our pants down.
GRIMWOOD: Pants down? They pretty much fucking ass-raped us.
DANICA: Oh, you loved it. - KING: Jesus Christ! What the fuck?! What the FUCK?!
ASHER: Good dog. His name’s Pac Man. We’ve been porting the vampire gene into other species. Experimenting.
KING: You made a goddamned vampire… Pomeranian?
ASHER: Yeah. - KING: Gonna be sorry you did that.
ASHER: Why? Nobody’s coming for you, King-shit.
Trivia:
- An early idea by David S. Goyer for the film was to be set many years after the events of the last film, where vampires finally had achieved world domination and enslaved all humans, with Blade being the last hope for humanity. Blade's slower aging could be explained by his vampire blood. The storyline was deemed too dark and was later dropped.
- The film crew was forced to be selective in their shots for various green-screen segments because neighboring stages were being used for the filming of I, Robot (2004) and The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) and those sets would sometimes appear within the frames (and edited out later).
- Even though it's the third movie in the Blade series, this was the first movie to have the Marvel Studios logo at the beginning of the movie (Blade is a Marvel comics superhero).
- The old barge that the Nightstalkers use as their lair, was originally a floating McDonald's Restaurant built for Expo '86, held in Vancouver.
- Callum isn't wearing his top set of fangs for the first part of King's interrogation at Phoenix Towers, but they are back in his mouth for the second half of the same interrogation. Bladeverse vampires (at least in the films; the TV series is a different matter), unlike Buffyverse, can't retract their fangs at will.
- In the original shooting script, the first mention of Asher -- his character description -- is simply:
ASHER (4Os), a natural-born leader with easygoing charisma.
Interesting scenes:
- The opening dessert/ziggurat sequence. You don't have to wait very long for a Callum fix, since Asher is one of four Vampire's who opens the film. In head-to-toe combat gear, no less.
- King's Interrogation. It's the most Asher heavy scene, at least. He taunts King and holds a cute puppy, fetches on command and fondles his belt a whole lot. Seriously. A LOT.
Do I want to show this to my parents / friends / co-workers?
Poll Blade:Trinity
Asher
Poll Asher
Does he die?
You really want to know? Are you sure? Really sure? Well, then. (highlight to read)
::Yeah, he bites it. No pun intended. He takes an arrow to the side.::
Articles/interviews
Audio commentaries from other people count as interview-y things, right? :D
I transcribed this from the Blade: Trinity audio track done with Writer/Director David S. Goyer, Ryan Reynolds [Hannibal King] and Jessica Biel [Abigail Whistler]. It happens during the first half of King's interrogation by the vampires.
David Goyer: This kick coming up, every time I see it, it looks like he’s really kicking you in the face.
Ryan Reynolds: Oh, man. This thing was so much fun, but it hurt so much.
DG: That’s a guy named Callum Keith Rennie, a great actor.
RR: Great actor.
DG: Again, one of those guys I wish we had found more for him to do in the film because-- I gotta write another part for him in another movie.
RR: I grew up watching him.
DG: Really?
RR: Yeah. In Vancouver, he’s like a legend. I mean, he’s one of these great Canadian actors that’s done so many great films.
DG: I know he was in Memento with-- that Christopher Nolan directed it. Chris and I had talked about him when we were working on Batman. Chris said, ‘There’s this great actor up there, you gotta see if you can get him. Callum.’
Cut the audio commentary David did for The Invisible and:
David Goyer: When I cast Callum in a relatively small role as a vampire in Blade: Trinity, I realized that he was a much higher caliber actor than the part really called for. And, in a way, I was embarrassed to have him playing that role, and I told him at the time that I would come back in a couple of years and offer him a better part. And, uh, so about a year and a half later, I did. It’s nice to do that sometimes.
Until now, the Blade movies (1998's "Blade" and 2002's "Blade II") were sort of trashy fun. They were rock-stomping, hyperkinetically edited music video-flicks in which the strutting, coolly sour (and blind) Blade (Wesley Snipes) wiped out legions of trash-talking, pretty-boy vampire scum. It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it. One shot of Blade's mega-zap gun (loaded with special vamp-seeking silver bullets) and poof -- they went up in a Fourth of July flameout. Yeah! And then Blade (half-human and half-vamp) would move on, his expression inscrutable behind those slick shades.
But although writer-director David S. Goyer's "Blade: Trinity" has its share of vampire executions, fight action and new characters, the third time around feels like it ought to be the last. An overhead shot of Mr. Snipes that suggests -- dare we mention? -- a hint of thinning hair, symbolically brings this point home. Of course, there's nothing wrong with losing hair, or being an aging hero. In fact, it's a potentially terrific conceit: the hero fighting the inevitability of age.
But in this case, Blade appears to have become host to his own dramatic demise. Forced to work with a group of vampire slayers, known as the "Nightstalkers," he's cagey and grumpy, as if furious that Goyer (who wrote all three "Blade" flicks and the second "Crow" movie) might replace him with younger talent.
In "Trinity," Blade finds himself framed. Fooled into thinking he's chasing a vampire, he deep-sixes his target, only to find the victim is human. Going on the run and hiding in the lair of mentor Whistler (Kris Kristofferson resembling Willie Nelson 30 years from now), he's ambushed by the FBI and arrested. But the Nightstalkers spring him from custody, and Blade finds himself allied (grumpily, as I mentioned) with a bunch of youthful whippersnappers, including quippy Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds) and leather-catgirlish Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel), who happens to be Whistler's daughter.
Hold the phone. Blade couldn't tell the difference between vamp and human? Got busted by a bunch of earthly G-men? A smart aleck with hair gel and a power babe rescued him? Blade, you need to talk pension plan with your creator. You are soooo 1998.
Old Man Blade and his power kids take on a fairly goofy army, including a comeback Dracula (Dominic Purcell), who has reincarnated himself as a gothic stud named Drake; a vampy vamp called Danica Talos (Parker Posey); and a few other blood-sucking lugs (including pro wrestler Triple H). The usual superhero fighting ensues. Oddly, Drake, who seems to have enough power to eat Blade for satanic brunch, constantly avoids going in for the kill. When he has Blade in his grasp, he prefers to come back another time. What, he has attention deficit disorder? He's bored with winning early? Or a bad script made him do it?
Goyer's attempts at camp are flabby and misfired. Posey's indie-gal circus tricks are only fitfully amusing. And as Hannibal, Reynolds has an uber-potty mouth that could gray the heads of "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. (Foolishly, I took my 12-year-old son to this, thinking it might be a tad violent but generally okay. I think he turned 13 overnight.) "Trinity," whose title is an obvious, shoplifter's lunge at the "Matrix" mystique, is clearly geared for a fourth saga, judging by the open-ended conclusion and those hot young Nightstalkers. But if ever there was a case for quitting while you're behind, this "Blade" is it -- ready to be buried in a vat of garlic.
Found @ washingtonpost.com.
Links
Fic
Mask by rospberry @ fanfiction.net (Asher/King)
Constant Craving by stormymouse! (Asher/King)
Signifying Everything by kazzfiction (Asher/Danica; not explicit, but if incest!fic rubs you the wrong way, don't read)
Flipside & The Earth Says Hello by r_vecchio (Asher/Ray Vecchio. Crossover fluff. As fluffy as you can get when dealing with a moody vampire, anyway.)
Picspam
As committed by me. (A cap or two may be spoilery)
If that's not enough, I have a photobucket gallery, too, divided into film caps and behind the scenes/bonus material of Callum. Be warned, a lot of it is frame-by-frame. Unnecessary, yes, but there you have it.
And a short gif of cute from one of the DVD featurettes.
Video
All of Asher's canon on youtube. Spoilery, obviously.
Part One
Part Two
Music
conTemporary Immortality An Asher fanmix I made last month. 'Cause I'm obsessed?
Availability
The movie is available through pretty much any and all online retailers - Blade: Trinity.
There's a book, too, the plot of which followers closer to the original script than the one that was shot. Lots more Asher than the film gives you, but I'll gush about it in a different post <3
Final Thoughts:
Yes, it's no secret that this isn't the greatest film known to man, but, personally, it'll never cease to make me flail because it is, in fact, the first role I'd ever seen Callum in. That was back in 2004 and, in that time, I can happily say that I've seen him in much, much worse.
The film is mindless violence (set to the biggest Apple advertisement I've ever seen!), resorts to any vampire franchises 'final resort' plot (Dracula. Raaar!) and, if you're a Blade fan, you'll probably be a bit peeved that the title character seems to play second banana to the Nightstalkers. There's also King's questionable humor; it's either a hit or a miss with most people. Personally, I loved Ryan in the role, bathroom humor, swearing up a storm and all.
All that mumbo-jumbo aside? Callum has fangs when he remembers to put them on?, people.
The End.