RATING: B-

Starring: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Jessica Biel, Ryan Reynolds, Parker Posey with Triple H. Casting by Ronnie Yeskel, Music Supervisor Georde Drakoulias, Music by Ramin Djawadi & The Rza, Costume Designer Laura Jean Shannon, Edited by Howard E. Smith and Conrad Smart, Production Designer by Chris Gorak, Director of Photography Gabriel Beristain, Co-Producer Art Schaefer, Executive Producers Toby Emmerich, Cale Boyter, Executive Producers Stan Lee, Avi Arad, Produced by Peter Frankfurt, Wesley Snipes, David S. Goyer, Lynn Harris, Written and Directed by David S. Goyer.

Rated R, Running Time 108 mins, 2.40 to 1 Anamorphic Scope Aspect Ratio.

They say all good things must come to and end and though it remains to be seen whether "Blade: Trinity" is the last of the series, it was a fun ride while it lasted. The success of the original "Blade" was an explosion upon the film world in the summer of '98 that sparked interest in adaptations of Marvel comic books. Forget what you've been told; the success of "X-Men" may have added fuel to the fire, but it all started with a little R-rated action feature that made a bankable star out of Wesley Snipes. The character of Blade may have been created by Marv Wolfman, but the Blade we know is writer David Goyer's baby all the way. He borrowed elements from martial arts features, Japanese anime and "Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter" to create not just an interesting character but a unique African-American hero. It seems only natural that after scripting the previous features and standing on the sidelines, Goyer should take the reins as director and follow in the footsteps of Stephen Norrington and Guiellermo Del Toro. The problem, often faced by many writer-directors, is that this time Goyer may have bitten more than he can drink.

Back in the States, Blade is still up to his old tricks--hunting Vampires, while his mentor/father figure Whistler (a severely under-used Kris Kristofferson) designs the weapons. They both appear to be getting too old for this game as Kristofferson limps around on a leg brace and the over forty Snipes, doesn't seem as cat-like as he used to. But there's a new predator on the streets, unleashed by none other than indie actress Parker Posey and her clan of high society Vampires that include wrestler Triple H.

On a pilgrimage to the deserts of Iraq, they've discovered a Weapon Of Mass Destruction in the form of Drake, the original Vampire from whom the race was spawned and the Dracula legend originated. Drake is a creature demonic in appearance, impervious to sunlight and such a perfect killing machine that he has had no need to evolve. He also has the ability to shape shift which means it's a good guess he'll disguise himself as other characters throughout the film, but for now his human form will be Dominic Purcell.

Sci-fi fans may remember Purcell from his starring role in the short lived TV series John Doe--now he's bulked up a bit and claiming to be the most powerful Vampire in existence. I guess now we know who "John Doe" really was. To combat this new threat, Blade will need more than his trusty sword, or a few lethal gadgets from old Whistler. He'll need some new blood who are familiar with the game and know the stakes.

After falling prey to Posey's plan of public exposure as a hunter of so-called Vampires, Blade finds help in the form of the beautiful yet lethal Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel) and cocky, smart-mouthed Vampire hunter Hannibal King. An illegitimate daughter of Whistler's and a former Vampire, Abby and King are members of an underground Vampire hunting group called "The Nightstalkers". Supposedly their numbers are great and they work in secret, but in reality it looks like the team consists of a street hustler, a nerdy overweight scientist and a blind biologist played with mediocrity by Natasha Lyonne. You honesty can't blame Blade when he tells them, "You're kids, YA'LL 'AINT READY TA ROLL WIT DIS!!" Well, this band of "Goonies" are gonna have to be ready because Posey and her gang are planning to use Drake's genetics to purify the race and kickstart the Apocalypse now.

"Blade: Trinity" fails to thrill as well as the first two outings because it misses the mark several times. For starters, the picture lacks proper villains. Parker Posey may not seem like an ideal choice to play a baddie, but she actually puts in some solid work as a type of spoiled heiress who seems to always get her way. Her interaction with a captive Reynolds, once her boy-toy, now her enemy is particularly enjoyable including her description of a punishment that's effectively grimacing. She has the difficulty of speaking vast amounts of dialogue through those long fangs, but as a performer she uses them to her advantage. The problem is that there isn't enough of her because the Drake character takes center stage. Goyer didn't write her character with the lethal qualities of Arly Jover's Mercury from the original film.

Triple H fans may also be disappointed that there's so little of him as well. He only participates when there's an opportunity to torture Reynolds, but against Snipes, he poses no threat. His character is supposed to be a hybrid human/Vampire like Blade, but if you didn't read the production notes you wouldn't learn that from the film. As for Purcell's Drake, there aren't many thrills from this guy either. As I said he's a shapeshifter, which means he assumes the appearance of other characters; a gimmick that's just become too tired in films. For a third act in a series like this, we need to feel there's a chance Blade could lose. The threat to our hero and the world would have been far greater if they kept Drake in his demonic form instead of Purcell's one-note performance and appearance as he runs from Snipes in a buzzcut and white dress shirt with a gold chain around his neck. There's a poorly choreographed chase and lame initial face-off between these two that ends with Blade cooing to a baby in jeopardy. No kidding.

As for our heroes, they walk the walk and talk the talk, but perhaps they talk a little too much and lack the muscle to back it up. Jessica Biel's physical transformation is exceptional--you can see the muscle she packed on underneath her clothes and she makes one deadly archer and Vampire slayer. Too bad she has to take a backseat to Reynolds' antics as King. The Hannibal King of the comics, if I'm not mistaken, was a private detective who struggled with his Vampirism by not preying on humans and only drinking blood from bodies in the morgue. This version of the character is a potty mouthed, smart-ass who opens his trap one too many times. It's understandable that Snipes is the straight man and needs to be supported by someone who can provide humor, it's just that Reynolds picks inappropriate times to do it.

We've all seen moments where a tortured hero uses wisecracks to show the bad guys they'll never get information out of him and although Reynolds has quite a few funny lines, he lacks conviction and sounds as if he's just come from the set of "Van Wilder". Then there is Snipes himself who's getting long in the tooth for this sort of thing. He couldn't possibly be overweight, but the padding of his signature vest and coat make him appear so. Blade started out as an emotionally conflicted character who was never comfortable in his own skin. It appears that whatever arc he had ended with the first film because now it looks like he's just going through the motions. Yes, he is the straight man, but can we see the man finding some enjoyment in his work as he did previously? There's only a few moments where the Snipes we're familiar with turns up and his "Nino Brown" persona emerges.

Blade: "What's behind door number one?
Bad Guy: "I can't tell you, they'll kill me.
Blade: "Kill you? Muthaf**ka, I'll kill you. I'll count to twenty." BLAM! "Twenty."

Gone from this film are signature moments that the casual viewer may not notice but die-hard fans of the series will severely miss. Blade's first appearance in a film usually kicks off an incredible action sequence and although we get to see a slight bit of action in his Charger finally, it ends before it really begins. The first meeting between Blade and the main villain is always crucial, but instead of a hand to hand face-off or a verbal battle of wills (Stephen Dorff's "Uncle Tom" line from the original Blade is a classic) we get Blade chasing Drake to a rooftop where he threatens to drop a bundled infant. Blade also changes his fighting style throughout a film as a reflection of his mood. Sometimes his response is playful, as if he feels no threat and sometimes he gets down to some brutal street fighting as when his bloodlust was high at the climax of the previous outings. There is a sword fight against Drake, but oddly enough Purcell isn't as convincing a menace as Stephen Dorff who he outweighs by at least fifty pounds.

One of my favorite signature moments from a Blade film is the club scene. Blade often finds himself infiltrating the Vampire world and there is no better example of its sinister nature than a scene in a packed club. A club shoot-out was where Blade was introduced in the original film. For a character like Drake, who has been buried under sand for thousands of years you would think he'd want to explore the nightmarish world of the twenty-first century. Instead we get Purcell in his shirt and gold chain walking into a Halloween shop and confronting a Goth counter clerk who's eating a bowl of "Count Chocula" cereal. I can't make this stuff up folks.

I realize that now that he's at the helm David Goyer doesn't want to repeat himself as a writer or emulate the style of the previous directors. I'm just getting the feeling that maybe he's tied a little too close to the series to look at it objectively. The film seems as if it was spawned from a first draft--a rush job that was due to the fact he was set to immediately go into pre-production. It isn't easy making a film, I know that, I just feel that as Goyer was writing this stuff his vision was limited by the fact that he was already worrying about how he was gonna shoot it. He didn't have to luxury of handing the script off to someone else and making it their problem because it was his problem all the way. Perhaps if he wrote the story and then handed the screenplay work out to another individual it would have turned out differently. Having directed the indie "Zig Zag" which featured a small role by Snipes, Goyer is more than capable as a director and I actually look forward to his future work. He's mounted a massive production and for what he's done I think he should be complemented. I just wish some more work would have gone into the film early in the writing stage.

As a die-hard and obsessed fan of this series, I'd really hate to see it end. I crashed the N.Y. Premiere of the original film, how's that for obsessed? Like Goyer once said, I don't want to see him doing "Blade Happy Meals", but I wouldn't mind another outing. "Blade: Trinity" while not as solid as the first two, is an entertaining outing that's never boring, is a nice alternative to the humdrum year end dramas and a glorious return to Cinemascope, a format this comic book series should not have strayed from. It's just that for a series as richly entertaining as this one you want something fresh that doesn't stray too far from elements you're familiar with.

Although he's getting up there in age, Snipes proves he isn't down for the count as the only black action hero we have in American films today. I know what you're thinking what about Will Smith, right? Well Big Willie always manages to get upstaged by his co-stars (Jones, Lawrence, Kline Goldblum) and even got outshined by a friggin CG robot last summer. Wesley is a flesh and blood hero who not only represents the human race, but the black community as well. "Blade: Trinity" isn't as finely honed and sharp as it could have been, but it never ceases to entertain and hey...two out of three aint bad.