As is apparent from the title, Blade II is the sequel to the 1998 movie Blade, based upon the comic book from Marvel. Wesley Snipes stars as Blade, a half-human, half-vampire, referred to as "Day walker" by the vampires because of his ability to walk about freely in sunlight. As the movie opens we are given a small refresher course on the events of the first movie; how Blade became the Day walker, his quest to rid the world of vampires, and his search for his friend, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) who was his friend and mentor in the first movie.

The plot of Blade II revolves around a new breed of vampire, called the Reapers. It seems they are stirring up trouble in the vampire world: not only do they feed on humans, but vampires as well. Unlike vampires however, you don't have to be "turned" to become one of the Reapers. Anyone bitten by a Reaper becomes a Reaper, and since they must feed every few hours, they are rapidly multiplying. The vampires decide they can't deal with this new threat by themselves, so they offer Blade a truce. They give him the lead over a specialized group of vampires, called the "Bloodpack", which were originally formed to hunt down and kill Blade, to help eradicate the Reapers. As the movie progresses, we find that all is not as it seems, and Blade may have two enemies to deal with now.

However, all this is filler for the real reason we go to see Blade II: the action sequences. In this aspect the film delivers quite well. Blade is a supercharged warrior, he has all the vampires' strength with none of their weakness, so he can fight with the best the vampires have to offer. This film does a good job of showing off Wesley Snipes impressive martial arts skills. He slices and dices vampires with all sorts of weaponry, from silver stakes to guns with silver bullets, to his sword and spinning blade weapon; each one is more impressive than the last. The only complaint I have is some of the action scenes are shot too close; you can't see the amazing moves the fighters are doing because the camera is focused too tight. This only occurs once or twice though; the vast majority of the sequences are well shot.

The soundtrack is in the same vein as the original, some hip-hop mixed with techno. It's not good, it's not bad, it serves its' purpose, adding pulse-pounding music to the action scenes. Anyone who was a fan of the first movie will enjoy the sequel. Those who missed Blade the first time around are in for a treat, as this movie delivers even more action than the first. If you are a fan of action movies at all, you owe it to yourself to see Blade II.

- - Darken Rahl