Last time out, Wesley Snipe's silver sword-wielding vampire slayer Blade was beginning to lose a little of his lustre.

It could be argued that fighting for world supremacy with a former member of Bros (Luke Goss) wasn't taxing his skills as the global bloodsucking nemesis.

This sees him back on track after his sharp-fanged foes out him to the FBI while hooking up with Dracula - now known as Drake (no relation to Charlie) - the original toothsome troublemaker.

In a bit of a pickle, Blade is helped out by the Nightstalkers, a group of human vampire hunters led by Abigail (Biel), daughter of his dear departed chum Whistler (Kristofferson).

Together they have to take on Drake's gang of the undead, headed by the, erm, vampish Danica (Posey) and her dentally-challenged acolytes.

Writer David Goyer - who penned the first two outings for the big screen - lightens the tone in his entertaining first crack at the Marvel Comics creation.

Rather than turn to dust, Blade's adversaries burn brightly, morph into blazing skeletons and then collapse into ashes with a satisfying fizzle.

Out goes a great deal of the brooding menace... but in comes a playful attitude to the "daywalker" legend peppered with some drole dialogue.

Snipes is still the taciturn toughnut with the occasional throwaway quip but Ryan Reynolds, as his human henchman Hannibal King, is fed the best comedy lines.

"She's got fangs in her v***na," he informs the assembled vampire hunters about unconventionally-equipped adversary Danica. "Moving on..."

In another comic scene, a visibly fuming Blade is accused of a sexually confused ambivalence about his mother... a claim he deals with the way you might expect.

It may be a franchise coursing along on cruise control, but this is an action movie for the discerning punter.

Something to sink your teeth into...

Tim Evans