Too bad. Because I liked the core of the story.
Dracula (played by Luke Evans) is presented here as a Transylvanian ruler, husband and father who is trying to put his bloody past behind him (that whole “Vlad the Impaler” thing is something he’d rather not talk about) and move on. He’s got a deal with the Turkish empire that keeps the peace and, beyond a sinister threat that rests in the bowels of the nearby Broken Tooth Mountain, Vlad’s life is pretty good. That is, until Sultan Mehmed II (a thoroughly tanned Dominic Cooper), who leads the Turks, calls upon him to hand over a thousand boys for Mehmed’s army. This includes Vlad’s son. He refuses and, knowing that Mehmed will retaliate with force, Vlad ventures to Broken Tooth Mountain to garner power from the vampire (Charles Dance) that resides there. A dark bargain is struck and Vlad is now able to defend his kingdom with supernatural abilities. But it all comes with a price.
This is all within the first 30 minutes of the film! It’s a meaty set-up; motivations are clear, Vlad could use some more personality, but he’s coming from a strong place and there’s the potential to see his arc go into some interesting, dark places. Further, the script does a shoddy job truly rooting the relationship between Mehmed, the main villain, and Vlad (formerly brothers on the battlefield) and it’s all “we’ll give you the broad strokes, don’t worry about the rest” sort of stuff. Because of this, Dominic Cooper and his eyeliner and his questionable accent are utterly wasted in the film. Evans is totally fine – I happen to dig the guy as an actor. He fits the bill when it comes to handsome, brooding and charming. Sarah Gaddon (who plays Vlad’s wife), meanwhile, isn’t exactly strapped with any sort of remarkably progressive “leading lady” material.
Still, Dracula isn’t a damn superhero. He’s a monster. Perhaps the least sympathetic monster residing at Universal. And this is the most irksome thing about Dracula Untold.
The discovery of his newfound powers is handled much like Clark Kent learning how to fly. He’s clumsy at first, but quickly – very quickly – he becomes acclimated to his increased strength, his extra senses and his ability to turn into a swarm of bats. The latter comes in mighty handy on the battlefield when Vlad is seen effortlessly taking on a Turkish army all on his own. (Strangely, this ability reminded me of Morrigan from the popular Capcom video game series Darkstalkers.) The action allows Shore to show off with various visual flourishes from the Zack Snyder school of shooting action scenes – a lot of them don’t make much sense, however. For one sequence, he depicts Vlad’s assault on the Turks in the reflection of a sword that transitions to a POV shot of the soldier holding the blade. It’s awfully messy. And when the bats come out to play – and there’s a lot of fucking CGI bats in this film – Shore loves to throw his camera right into the middle of the swarm and all you get is a lot of blurry images.
I’ve also got a problem with a PG-13 Dracula film in which you’re not even allowed to see the depiction of teeth sinking into a neck. Seriously, this film avoids that. When Dracula finally puts the bite on someone, it’s all close-ups of hands gripping flesh and hair and clothes. But never, ever do you see a pair of fangs diving right into the jugular. I think kids have seen worse atrocities on television.
There’s plenty of other silliness to Dracula Untold – like Dracula’s totally incompetent soldiers or an armor-piercing wooden stake (not a spoiler) for example – but I’ll say that the movie was never dull. It moves at a tireless pace and I love that they even managed to work in a torch-carrying angry mob (just like the good ol’ Universal monster days!). The main problem is that the film eschews Dracula’s gothic roots for action and steers the character into a palatable and “safe” zone for audiences. By making Dracula the protagonist, there’s a responsibility at play here to avoid making him the villain, which is what he should be. The script should have made room for another character – one that perhaps served under Dracula, a best friend, that the audience could rely on and follow as this character watches Dracula descend into darkness.
But, Universal appears to be in the “superhero monster” business and this is a new Dracula (Captain Transylvania?) that has a big future ahead as the film’s finale hints. Maybe in time he’ll become something to fear.
