BLOODY CHOP SOCKY

REVIEWED - BLADE: TRINITY: After the fine Blade II, on which the great Mexican director Guillermo del Toro worked a sinister magic, we are back in vampire Punch & Judy territory. Of its type - black coats, sub-Prodigy techno, quips in the face of danger - Blade: Trinity is perfectly acceptable, writes Donald Clarke

Still, one wishes that David S. Goyer, who wrote all three pictures and now directs, did not feel the need to fall back into such familiar patterns.

Following the death of old chum Kris Kristofferson, Wesley Snipes's undead vigilante teams up with plucky Jessica Biel and chiselled Ryan Reynolds - hence "Trinity" - to defeat a cadre of vampires that is planning to resurrect a familiar figure from horror lore. Who can we mean? Well, in the latter half of the film, Ms Biel, who does many things she never got to do in Seventh Heaven, actually gets to say the line "We need Dracula's blood." Groovy!

When he eventually turns up, Drake, as he is now known, despite having the power to shape shift, elects to take the form of a broader, dumber looking Colin Farrell (actually one Dominic Purcell). One suspects that this Count, with his nice fitted, open-necked shirt, will age about as well as Blacula.

Anyway, with more than a few spectacular stunts and endless fun with silly gadgets, the (we're told) last picture in the series passes the time well enough. The nightmare isn't over though. Rumours abound that Biel and Reynolds may appear in their own vampire-slaying franchise. You have been warned.