Im a big fan of the Blade franchise starring Wesley Snipes who plays “Blade”, a daywalking vampire turned vampire hunter. Spike TV has recently released their spin-off of the franchise by releasing a two hour special starring Kirk Jones, who is also known as Sticky Fingaz.

The biggest problem with spin-offs is staying true to the main characters of the films. Rumor has it that Wesley Snipes was offered the role of Blade but declined to take it. The role was then given to Kirk Jones to fill. In the premiere, Jones looked out of place in his role as Blade. His bad boy attitude was weak, and the delivery of “Blades” infamous one liners was off the mark as well. He was just not convincing. I am also curious to know when Blade decided to go bald instead of having the cool haircut. As a fan of the series, Im going to give Jones the benefit of the doubt and hope that he will become more comfortable with his role.

The story, action, and special effects were very well done. I have no complaints at all. I was glued to the tube the entire two hours and I am actually looking forward to watching the next episode. The only thing that really bothered me in the film was how they portrayed Blade in the fight scenes. Blade got hammered! He just didn’t have the moves and strength as the original character. Come On! He had a hard time defeating a couple of low ranked vampires! THIS IS BLADE DAMMIT! Not Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Get with the program. Otherwise, great start to a promising series.