'BLADE' DULLS ON 3RD OUTING.

Byline: David Kronke Staff Writer

IT'S NICE that Wesley Snipes has established his own franchise in the ``Blade'' movies, playing the cool vampire hunter of comic-book infamy, but it's a wash for those who prefer watching him act rather than simply posture.

``Blade Trinity,'' the series' third entry, offers more of the same: elaborate action sequences in which the editing at least aspires to coherence, which is more than can be said about writer/director David S. Goyer's script. It ups the ante by including Dracula, here called Drake (Dominic Purcell), unearthed in (where else?) Iraq and accessorized with special effects transforming his mouth into something reminiscent of ``Alien.''

Tips abound, however, that no one tried too hard to make this film particularly good: featuring Kris Kristofferson (reprising his role from the earlier films) lumbering about in long, stringy hair and rasping lines as if he was ordered to chain-smoke between takes. Or casting Parker Posey as a mega-nasty vampire who takes her eye-lining cues from Avril Lavigne, and whose prosthetic fangs afflicts her with a seeming speech impediment and whose tottering stilettos hamper her tough-gal purposeful strides.

And, of course, simply hiring lad-mag staple Jessica Biel. Her character assists Blade; her lone personality trait consists of listening to angry music while battling blood-suckers, justifying the music-licensing executive's paycheck.

Blade, you may recall, is part vampire himself, so his vow to rid the Earth of vampires is a heroic act of self-negation not dissimilar to becoming a Log Cabin Republican, though such potential emotional baggage goes ignored. Our heroes rely on trendy martial-arts combat, which, given the weapons capable of instantly dispatching the evildoers at their disposal, seems gratuitous at best and foolhardy at worst. They wander the streets without incident though armaments dangle from them like tinsel from a Christmas tree. As is common with movies like this, ``Blade Trinity'' seems a smidgen too jazzed by its extravagant cruelty.

One welcome addition to the mix is the droll Ryan Reynolds as another of Blade's new assistants - he apparently wrote his own material, which indeed seems to have been airlifted in from a more clever film. On the other hand, he lets audiences know early on where ``Blade Trinity'' is coming from: The second sentence of the film just happens to be, ``Everyone knows the movies are full of (excrement).''

David Kronke, [phone]

david.kronke(at)dailynews.com

BLADE TRINITY - Two stars

(R: strong pervasive violence and language, some sexual content)

Starring: Wesley Snipes, Jessica Biel, Ryan Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson and Dominic Purcell.

Director: David S. Goyer.

Running time: 1 hr. 54 min.

Playing: Wide release.

In a nutshell: Wesley Snipes battles more vampires, with the help of Jessica Biel, Ryan Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson, only this time he's going up against Dracula (Dominic Purcell). Reynolds brings some welcome comic relief to the slack plotting, extravagant cruelty and occasionally stylish violence.

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Wesley Snipes and Jessica Biel chase vampires and look cool in ``Blade Trinity.''