Review: Dracula Untold

Bram Stoker's Dracula has bred many a film adaptation from F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu in 1922 to Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula in 1992. The latest, Dracula Untold, helmed by first-time director Gary Shore, presents our bloodthirsty nightcrawler as a prince who goes over to the dark side to save his kingdom.

Per the prologue, it was common practice for Transylvanian boys to be enslaved by the Turks and bred to kill and crave blood. One such boy grew up to be known as Vlad the Impaler (Luke Evans). Tired of the violence, Vlad returned to Transylvania to rule his realm in peace. His erstwhile brother Mehmed (Dominic Cooper), however, resurrects the practice of taking 1000 boys and recruiting them into the Turkish army. Mehmed refuses to exclude Vlad's own son from the tribute: "What is one son? If you are virile, you'll make plenty more."

When Vlad decides to protect his son and slay Mehmed's men, he kicks off a war for which his people are ill-equipped to fight. He decides to see the Beast of Broken Tooth Mountain, a figure whose powers Vlad hopes to have to hold off Mehmed's formidable army. The beast (Charles Dance) outlines the risks of their deal: Vlad can possess a portion of his potency by drinking the beast's blood. If he manages to refrain from consuming human blood for three days, then he has a chance to return to normal. If he feeds, then he will be condemned to take the beast's place and be beholden to his command.

Dracula Untold is a pleasant enough pill to swallow with its serviceable action pieces - an empowered Vlad laying waste to Mehmed's forces or a tidal wave of bats descending upon another horde of Turkish soldiers - and unsurprising plot points. It seems a tad ridiculous that Vlad's weaknesses - an aversion to sunlight and silver, his love of his wife (Sarah Gadon) and son - are so easily exploited. What's the point of owning a power when all anyone has to do is fling some silver coins at you to compromise your strength? Not that Mehmed doesn't dip into the waters of illogic. Reasoning that his solders won't fear what they can't see, he blindfolds his men. Seeing Vlad, who can dissemble into a swarm of bats at will, isn't exactly the problem but to each his own logic.

Evans is a goodlooking man and he telegraphs all the right expressions, but the intensity isn't quite there. There's no real sense of Vlad's past history of violence nor his struggle to resist his insatiable craving for blood.

Dracula Untold

Directed by: Gary Shore

Written by: Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless; based on characters created by Bram Stoker

Starring: Luke Evans, Sarah Gadon, Dominic Cooper, Charles Dance, Art Parkinson, Diarmaid Murtagh