Some movies are made to be funny, some are made to be scary, and many more are made to make audiences think.

“Blade” doesn’t fit into any of these neat categories.

If anything, the movie is made to be a visual treat — a whirlwind of color and action that reflects the movie’s comic book origin.

Wesley Snipes plays Blade, a character who puts a new twist on Hollywood’s typical portrayal of the vampire as a sophisticated creature.

Born after his mother was attacked by a vampire, the leather-clad, tattooed Blade is genetically half-human and half-vampire, making him a threat to both species.

Yet, Blade’s heart is pure human. Each day he fights his inherited thirst for blood with a serum made, of course, from the essence of garlic.

Wanting revenge on the vampire who killed his mother, Blade, with the help of his mentor Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), wages war against the vampire nation that few humans know exists.

Gone are the days when crosses and wooden stakes ward off vampires. Blade uses bullets filled with garlic, silver stakes and his trusty acid-edged sword to combat the bloodsuckers.

The coexistence of humans and vampires collapses when the rebel vampire Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorf) discovers an ancient secret that could make him the ruler of a vampire-infested planet. But there is one catch: Frost needs Blade, the “day walker,” to set the whole mess off.

Compared to other vampire movies, this one sticks out as an original.

It will be a long while before the meat locker rave party of vampires bumping and grinding gleefully while they receive a “blood bath” from the fire sprinkler system is forgotten. The entire scene was a dark red blur of fanged faces.

The action scenes are impressive in “Blade,” and at times, there is more animation than live action.

When Blade and his hematologist friend Karen Jenson (N-Bushe Wright) battle the vampires on a subway train, the action freezes for a split-second, and the characters appear to be drawn into the scene.

As appealing as “Blade” is visually, the writing is more than a few steps behind. The jagged story line may work in comics, but it doesn’t translate well onto the screen. No character said a sentence that was too long to fit into a cartoon balloon.

Some of the story was also just plain silly. It is quite a coincidence that Blade saves a bitten woman who happens to be a brilliant hematologist.

And what sunscreen is preferred by vampires to fight those nasty ultraviolet rays? Must be SPA 4,000+.

However, this movie was not made for the plot. It is meant to entertain, and it succeeds.

Snipes added humanity to his character in a way that the dialogue never achieved.

With a flash of his smile, the audience cheered for their vampire hero. That is what the movie was made to do.

2 1/2 stars out of five

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Teresa Halvorsen is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Northwood.