Blade 2 offers gore, action

Vampires and day-walkers meet for a second time in Blade 2, a blood-fest based on the Marvel comic super hero that is sure to entertain its cult faithful. Blade (Wesley Snipes) is a half-human, half-vampire in denial, a one-man wrecking crew whose life is devoted to ridding the earth of vampire scum. Through the use of a special serum, Blade is able to keep his darker half at bay and help protect humans from the threat of vampires. The casket gets rolling when Blade rescues his mistakenly deceased partner and weapons expert, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), from his vampire captors. Yet the relationship between the two characters runs far deeper than a mere partnership. Whistler, whose own family was destroyed by vampires, once saved Blade from a life of street deprivation and trained him to be a killing machine. But in Whistler's absence, Blade employed the services of a brilliant stoner named Scud (Norman Reedus). Scud, who was saved by Blade when he was attacked by vampires, has done well in his role of creating weapons of mass vampire destruction, so a competitive tension mounts when Whistler returns. But there is far more than internal tension to worry about this time around. This time the fanged feigns come to Blade peacefully in hopes that he will help rid earth of a threat that endangers all mankind. Vampire overlord Damaskinos (Thomas Kretschmann) and his attractive daughter Nyssa (Loenor Varela) have discovered a race of super vampires called Reapers. Reapers are able to quickly feed and assimilate their catch into a collective that will destroy all life on earth if not stopped. And to make matters worse, conventional vampire killing methods like garlic and silver bullets are all useless on these devils. With the help of a vampire crew once trained to kill Blade himself, the sworn enemies must work together to stop what looks to be an insurmountable threat. Naturally, problems occur. Blade 2 is fast-paced eye candy that does exactly what it intends to do - entertain. David S. Goyer's screenplay injects a sharp wit into the dialogue, which keeps the pace moving steadily between fight scenes. What is troubling is that the same intelligence couldn't be used to save the somewhat lackluster ending. But Blade fans can rest assured that the sequel matches the intensity of its predecessor without repeating all of the previous plot points. The ample amount of blood and gore may not make for the best date flick, but Blade 2 has the best action going right now. Blade 2 is now showing at Wynnsong 16, Knoxville Center, Farragut Towne Square and Halls Cinema 7. Rating: C