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And the best part about this is that I’m pretty sure the film knows exactly what it’s doing! Take that opening fight scene. I’m not sure what I love more. Is it the way all rank and file vampires are between the ages of 18 and 35 with perfect abs and professionally styled hair? Is it that there are hundreds of tire irons literally hanging EVERYWHERE, for no other purpose than to be available when a fight breaks out? There’s just enough substance to cover the basics, but make no mistake - style is everything here. Absolutely EVERYTHING about Blade is a feast for the senses, and it has the good sense to knowingly poke fun at itself once in a while. The aforementioned Donal Logue hams it up as one of Frost’s minions, having a good time with the Unkillable Henchman trope, for instance.

The best example of this movie’s confidence is probably Frost himself. When the head of the Vampire Council (Udo Kier) first calls on Frost to deal with Blade, they treat him a pizza boy who showed up an hour late with a cold pie. And it’s a wonder they treat him so contemptuously because apparently, he’s the only one of them with the perfect combination of super-smart and badass necessary to take Blade out. But it’s not immediately clear why Frost even bothers to get involved, and it’s not even clear why they fear him. He just shows up sneering and smoking a cigarette, therefore he is badass. While he’s researching the Prophecy, we see him still sneering, still smoking a cigarette, staring at a computer screen but not really doing anything.

Look - Frost is awesome because he smokes cigarettes, wears cool clothes and has a computer. Is that okay with you? Blade can walk around in broad daylight dressed like the Terminator, waving around Robocop’s gun with a samurai sword sticking out of his jacket and not draw any attention to himself. Why? Because he, too, is awesome. For God’s sake, Blade’s love interest (N'Bushe Wright) is a goddamn phlebotomist who also happens to be hot, and also, apparently, knows kung fu. Yes, it's all kind of dumb, but it's self-consciously, energetically, efficiently dumb.

If that bothers you, I have no idea why you’re even watching. Did you look at the picture of Wesley Snipes in the sunglasses, with the leather trench coat and the katana before you pressed play? What were you expecting? But don't take my enthusiasm as a frivolous endorsement. Blade is not incidentally fun, in a “so good it's bad” kind of way. It's a meticulously crafted, visually arresting experience that's specifically designed to deliver maximum bang for the buck.

None of the characters themselves are particularly original. Kristofferson pulls off a passable white trash Morgan Freeman, Snipes carries himself like the bulletproof ‘90s action hero he was, and Frost is such a pretentious douche you're rooting for someone to shoot him in the face almost immediately. But David S Goyer’s (yes, THAT David S Goyer) dialogue is famously snappy, while Stephen Norrington is kind enough to just keep the camera moving and let his actors have fun. Everything and everyone about Blade is all in - even the soundtrack kicks ass - and it's hard not to get caught up in it even as you're rolling your eyes.

And by the way, I'm not sure this comes up often in conversations about Blade, but this film has a VERY fastidious color palette, and may have been an early pioneer in popularizing the teal/orange look that pervades action movies today. The sets, backgrounds, costumes, sound - everything fits together in service of the viscera. Even the CGI, while it tends to stand out, doesn't become a problem until the most important scene in the whole film.

So, it's not perfect. But Blade is still one of the best superhero films of the ‘90s. It holds up well not just on its own terms, but as a great example of how to knock a genre film out of the park. Blade oozes confidence (when Traci Lords is the first person to appear in your film, you are presumably very sure of yourself), trusts you to be in on the joke, and is happy to let you share in the fun. It works on almost every level, and it's easy to see why it still inspires people today.

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