Stars Luke Evans, Dominic Cooper, Sarah Gadon, Art Parkinson, Paul Kaye, Ferdinand Kingsley and Charles Dance Directed by Gary Shore There have been numerous adaptations of Dracula. It’s a book that’s been around for over a hundred years now and it’s potency still remains; it still intrigues us, enough for many many imitators to drink from its pulsing vein or artery. What exactly is the appeal of the vampire? Well, that’s an analysis for another time. There has also been a lot of speculation over the origins of the character of Dracula himself, the most common theory is that the old Count is based on a warrior prince, Vlad Tepes, who supposedly had a tendency to impale his defeated enemies on stakes, more to scare those who were still alive. There has been no actual connection between Vlad Tepes to Dracula, but it hasn’t stopped people from connecting the two anyway, and while this movie may take that tack, it really shouldn’t be taken as a validtion. After all, this is just a movie. If you’ve seen Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 adaptation, the opening prologue there might be a closer source for this new movie than anything else. Luke Evans manages to convey a dashing Prince Vlad and he does carry the film well enough. Most of the other performers do well enough to provide support although Dominic Cooper as Mahmed Bey, our conquering Turk, is badly served with a somewhat obsessive compulsive. Bey demands 1000 boys to induct into his already massive army, an experience that Vlad himself had experienced, endured and survived by becoming the ultimate soldier under Bey’s father. In order to save his people from Mahmed Bey’s army, Vlad seeks out a monstrous figure living in the nearby mountains, a vampiric monster (Charles Dance) whose origins are unknown. It is this creature who gives Vlad the powers of a vampire. The trick being that Vlad will only become a full fledged vampire if he should drink human blood within three days. Otherwise, he would revert to human. Therein lay the personal conflict for our tragic hero (it’s the origin of Dracula, of course he’s going to turn). So even with his powers, taking out ten, then a hundred of Bey’s soldiers, Beys sends another thousand and ultimately the entire army itself after Vlad… all over 1000 boys. Seems a bit ridiculous, doesn’t it? Especially if you have plans to invade another country. That’s the core problem with the movie. A villain with really dubious motivation, not entirely worthy of our lead warrior and his augmented powers. And what powers we have, that lead to some spectacular set-pieces, which build upon each other as Vlad discovers his abilities and applies himself. Throw everything into the mix and you have a half decent movie with an annoying and very underwritten villain. If you can get past that, you just might half some fun with the whole thing if it also weren’t so predictable. I wish they expanded more on Charles Dance’s vampiric creature; that’s an intriguing new factor that begs for more story, but the tacked on epilogue suggests it’s a story for another time. Universal Pictures intends this to be a launch point for a new era of monster features. Even knowing that, I half-expected Aaron Eckhart to put in an appearance, but that movie’s under another company. It just remains to be seen what they have planned for the other creatures in their stables; a reboot of The Wolfman, return of The Creature from the Black Lagoon, another update for Frankenstein and quite a few more. Rating ***/5 Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository / ISBNS Net (for best deals) E-Bookshop / Lybrary / aLibris / Blackwell
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