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davidjhutchison
Reviews
Tiger Claws III (1999)
Almolst entertainment
There's not much here to recommend this film. Cynthia Rothrock is barely in it, bookending the story. The lead is forgettable, and villains are laughable. The plot has Rothrock, and her partner investigating some nut named Striker, and catching him in the act of resurrecting 3 evil warriors from the past. Rothrock is killed, and her partner goes on a quest to stop the 3 warriors and avenge Rothrock. Carter Wong (Thunder in Big Trouble in Little China) puts in an appearance as Striker's former master, who oversees the hero's training montage. The only entertaining part of this film is the actor playing Striker. At first he plays the role straight, but realizes the film he's in and just starts playing it for laughs. I got quite a few chuckles watching his antics, and the zero respect he gets from the 3 warriors. Anyway, the hero defeats the warriors, and it turns out it was all, not a dream, but a premonition! Thus they are able to stop Striker before he is able to summon the warriors, and they all lived happily ever after. Blech!
Blade: Trinity (2004)
Lackluster entry from Goyer
Director David Goyer, screenwriter behind too many superhero movies to name, helms this lackluster entry in the Blade series. If Goyer is good at anything, it's generating ideas. He's an idea guy, and he never seems to run out. That said, Goyer's Blade is a rehash of ideas from previous films, married to unused concepts from previous films best left in the bin. From killing Whistler, again, to fight the ultimate vampire, again, to saving the entire world from a vampire apocalypse, again, this series has nothing new to offer.
Blade is suddenly ineffectual, and so two humans are sent in to replace him. Yes, they are there to replace him, not help him, back him up, or supplement his efforts. It's clear the studio wanted to leave Blade behind, and springboard into a more generic action hero direction.
Abigail Whistler is a non-entity. I don't remember anything about her, I don't even remember if she stopped for one second to mourn her father. Hannibal King is very different from his comics counterpart, a vampire struggling to keep his humanity. A much more compelling character than the wise-ass Reynolds seem to play in every movie.
Dracula, or "Drake" is just bad. He exists to fight Blade, and has nothing to offer in a modern take on Dracula, or vampires, he would have been more at home in "Twilight".
Blade himself is lethargic and disinterested in what's going on around him. It's clear Snipes was done with the role, the series, the director, and the script. They probably should have just killed the character, since that's what this movie did in the long run.
A good movie, if you want to watch people slash at each other with swords, but don't expect the heights of Blade 1, or 2.