Tuesday, December 02, 2014

Review Tuesday: Dracula Untold

There are some topics that studios will never get tired of making movies about. Vampires have been having a good run and this year came a new interpretation of the story of Dracula.



Dracula Untold
Prince Vlad Dracula of Transylvania makes a tremendous sacrifice to save the people of his kingdom from the Turks.
The story of Dracula has been told and retold many times over the years. When Bram Stoker first got his tale published on May 26, 1897, he ignited the imaginations of people around the world for generations to come. He compiled old wives tales, local superstitions and sprinkled it with a touch history about the local folk hero, Vlad the Impaler. 

This tale is centered on the life of Vlad played by Luke Evans. His face is familiar. He's been in a bunch of films and is slated to play Eric in the reboot of The Crow. He's good at playing dark and brooding characters as evidenced in this movie. He comes off as a reasonable guy in the beginning, but as events unfold, he morphs into a vicious warrior with ease. 

The cast is quite good. The good guys are very likable, even though many don't get to last very long. The villains are very loathsome, despite the fact that many don't really look like they should be playing Turks. The special effects were outstanding. Seamless and perfect. 

My only issue is with the script. The story was good, but the actual script struck me as weak. It wasn't bad, it was still entertaining, but something felt off.  

Then, of course, there's a twist in the ending, that leaves it wide open for a Dracula sequel in present day. That left me wondering, was this movie a set up for a new franchise? Perhaps, but there's no word about future plans. Yet. I doubt there will be since the movie didn't exactly generate big sales in the box office. With an estimated budget of $70 mill and a worldwide take of over $200 mill it's not outside of the realm of possibility.

Certainly entertaining. Catch it when it comes to TV or buy a copy. 

Amazon

IMDB

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