Sleek, stylish, and sexy. A reminder of the pre-MCU days where Marvel and other superhero films weren't afraid to get more experimental in their approach. These days you won't see anyone make a comic book adaptation for their cinematic universes this dark and bloody. Especially not Marvel. At least not outside of Netflix. Like a lot of the videogame and comic book movies from the late '90s and early 2000s, the action in blade is of a hyper ridiculous, over-the-top nature that can occasionally get too silly for it's own good. There are also some moments that would have come across as cool and acceptable back in 1998, but are just cheesy today. Blade still holds up surprisingly well though. Especially for a film that uses the popularized, glamorous take on vampires. This is largely because it plays itself with almost an entirely straight face. This allows some moments that could have been terrible coming off as much better than they otherwise would have. Such as the blood drinking scene that is completely unsubtle in it's symbolism of sex. Blade also doesn't forget that while it's creatures of the night are all fashionable pretty boys and girls, they are historically monsters. Wesley Snipes gives an incredibly cool performance. The character of Blade himself though goes underdeveloped. With the exception of a surprisingly emotional scene involving the mentor/surrogate father figure "Whistler" (portrayed by Kris Kristofferson) that allows Snipes to actually do some light acting, our protagonist never comes off as anything more than a blank slate. Blade is hardly more than a vampire killing-machine we never get to learn much about. He can fight and toss out some clever one-liners, but I was ready to see some growth well before the credits rolled. This is somewhat made up for with the villain though. Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) is a much more memorable antagonist than most of the foes in modern superheroes find themselves up against, even if his motivations are of the standard "vampires should be ruling humans instead of hiding" variety. The way the story plays out and the style in which scenes are shot really does make Blade feel like a live-action comic book. Much like the Thomas Jane Punisher movie and to a lesser degree 2003's Daredevil, Blade takes is a dark and mature alternative to the more family-friendly superhero movies that make up the majority of the genre. It's the kind of thing I would love to see Marvel and DC do on the big-screen again. Fox is the only one giving us R-rated cape and costume flicks these days. I love how Blade fully embraces it's horror side. Something that opened the door for the multitude of grotesque and gory kills. Some elements of the story don't hold up quite as well as they should. For example the stuff with Blade's mother comes off as inconsequential and gets weirdly incestuous there for a second. There are also scenes that seemingly contribute nothing to the overall plot. Blade is a reminder of a time where superhero films weren't afraid to take risks and go to some more adult places with their action. While this didn't always win them a bunch of support from the professional critics, they were usually able to find their own followings in the audience. This is a movie worth checking out if you'd like to see a darker Marvel character. One that if they ever did decide to revive for the MCU would most likely get relegated to one of their TV shows that have begun to feel somewhat disconnected from the larger universe as opposed to the big-screen treatment he deserves. Look at what happened to Frank Castle. If Marvel ever does decide to follow in Fox's footsteps and make another R-rated superhero movie aimed at adults like they did back in the day (it's worked for the X-Men three times now) this should be the character they do it with as his original adventure is still good 20 years later.