Dracula Untold (Movie Review)

Marvel's got a universe. DC's got a universe. Why not Universal? Hell, the word "universe" is in their name! When production started on Dracula Untold, it wasn't yet decided that Universal was attempting to ressurect their monster franchise, but in the end, their intentions couldn't be clearer.

Dracula Untold takes place during everyone's favorite time period, the 1400's. This particular origin story glosses over Vlad's impaling phase in favor of focusing on his new life as a prince and family man. When the Turks attempt to stake their claim to raise the boys of Vlad's kingdom as their soldiers, Vlad takes to the mountains to find a solution. The solution, as it turns out, is to lease the curse of vampirisim for a few days to see what happens if he goes batshit crazy on some Turks in order to save his son (disappointingly not named Alucard) from slavery.

Although the marketing of this film did little to differentiate it from something like say, Underworld , surprisingly it isn't as soulless as you might think at first glance. Yes, there are a great deal of computer generated bat clouds and clouds of ash where their should be arterial spray, but there is also some practical substance, especially in the treatment of Charles Dance's (Game of Thrones) portrayal of the mountain-bound vampiric patient zero. By contrast, Luke Evans does serviceably as Dracula-to-be, even though I don't remember "abs you can bounce a quarter off of" being part of the Dracula mythos. The interplay between the two embodies the conflict of this film's existence: how do you call back to the atmosphere and character of Universal's past, while also prepping to move into the future?

For a first time director, Gary Shore manages to squeeze a great deal with the uninspired material. The film is fast paced without being numbing, just suspenseful enough in parts, and oozing with the romantic flavor of the time period. The "boss fight" at the end of the film could be an iconic all-time fight scene if there were a bit more meat on the bones of the picture it's bookending. There is a really fun genre film in here somewhere, it's just glossed over in the name of faux-epicness.

For your monsterous action-thriller dollar, you could do worse than Dracula Untold, but if Universal wants this reboot thing to be successful long term, they need to do better.