Dracula

This weekend, Dracula, the newest adaptation of the Dracula story, was released in theaters. Dracula follows a 15th-century prince who becomes Dracula after inheriting an eternal curse and must wander the centuries in hope of finding his lost love. This movie looked kind of interesting, but the first week of February was also very light on movies, so it was either this or The Strangers: Chapter 3.

I thought that this movie had some interesting ideas to it. I liked the grand scale at the beginning of the movie, with this whole kingdom and an epic battle. I also liked how they turned Dracula's story into a tragedy. In this version, all he wants is to be reunited with his lost love. While the ends may not justify the means, he isn't trying to be a monster. This aspect adds an extra layer of sadness to the movie. The movie also features Christoph Waltz, who always gives a good performance, and this film is no exception to that.

However, this movie ended up largely being a pretty bland film. The movie lacks any unique flair. It doesn't have a gothic feel that other Dracula stories have. It also lacks any sort of spooky or horror tone. The movie doesn't have any sort of vibe to it, which is what makes it so forgettable. It just doesn't feel like a Dracula story. It feels more like a generic vampire romance story. From a plot standpoint, it is very unclear who the story is even about. It isn't really clear whether we are supposed to root for Dracula or the Christoph Waltz character, as the movie kind of jumps between the two with no real connection until the very end. The storytelling is also pretty clunky, with the main plot not even kicking in until about an hour into the film. The movie even stops about a third of the way in so Dracula can dump his backstory on Jonathan Harker before he kills him. The ending also doesn't make a ton of sense with the choice Dracula makes and the implications that it has not added together.

Overall, while some ideas were interesting, this was a pretty lackluster Dracula story and probably explains why the studio did such minimal marketing on it.

Score: 6/10 Grade: C+ Recommendation: Skip it