I can't disagree with anyone's opinion, but for my dollar I prefer the grittiness of the original. The caveats are that Stephen Dorff isn't a terribly compelling actor and that the CGI at the end was pretty terrible. However, the opening sequence in the rave party, the unexpected (to me at least) premise and execution of the film, and fun characters in the film are what I find more compelling. B2 had a bigger budget, but I didn't think that the ideas or stakes were increased to match.

@AlienFanatic said:

However, the opening sequence in the rave party,

My problem with the first Blade film (don't get me wrong, I like them both) is that this opening set piece is by far the best action scene in the film. The film's action gets weaker and less intense as the film goes on and it should be the other way round. The action should build up as the film goes on and peak at the climax.

And Blade 2 did seem to have a bit more to it. It wasn't Dostoevsky but it did seem to build a bit more depth to Bade's character and Guilermo del Toro did lend the film some of his trademark atmosphere. And it had a better bad guy while the first film could be hammy at times.

SPOILERS AHEAD....

@AlienFanatic said:

I can't disagree with anyone's opinion, but for my dollar I prefer the grittiness of the original. The caveats are that Stephen Dorff isn't a terribly compelling actor and that the CGI at the end was pretty terrible.

Oh yeah, the climactic CGI is pretty horrible when judged by today's standards, huh?

However, the opening sequence in the rave party, the unexpected (to me at least) premise and execution of the film, and fun characters in the film are what I find more compelling. B2 had a bigger budget, but I didn't think that the ideas or stakes were increased to match.

Right, if anything, they cannibalized the first film's conceit of taking Blade's blood to bring to life La Magra. Only in the sequel, they were going to harvest Blade's internal organs instead.

I just love saying the word BLADE