‘Dracula’ (2025)

Yet another take on Bram Stoker’s classic 1897 gothic novel, ‘Dracula’ follows the doomed 15th century prince Vlad (Caleb Landry Jones). Before going into battle to defend his homeland, Vlad consults with a priest, asking for his beloved Elisabeta (Zoë Bleu) to remain unharmed in the impending attack. Tragedy befalls the couple as Elisabeta meets her doom, resulting in Vlad renouncing his faith and God. Cursed with near immortality, Vlad is condemned to wander the Earth, guided only by his desire to be reunited with Elisabeta.

Adapting a story as well-known as Dracula should be done if the creative mind behind it has a truly singular vision. Writer and director Luc Besson seems to have had interesting ideas on how to refresh and revamp the story. With novel nuggets here and there, the film has a slew of offerings for viewers interested in seeing something outwith the prior norms set by earlier adaptations of the story.

Focusing on the love between Vlad and Elisabeta, the drive behind everything that happens is Vlad’s interminable want to see Elisabeta again. Even though some may argue Elisabeta perished at Vlad’s hand as he tries to save her, - killing an enemy about to attack Elisabeta by throwing his sword at him and accidentally also nabbing her. Enraged as his request for Elisabeta to remain unharmed is ignored, Vlad renounces God and is punished by being granted immortality.

Spending centuries in search of his beloved, Besson takes some liberties and introduces fun new bits to Dracula’s story. As Vlad grows tired of his fruitless search, he is shown to travel the world, developing a perfume that draws women to him. With impeccable hair, makeup and costume design, Besson has fun with the courts of Europe and how easily Vlad learns to deal with their pomposity.

With a handful of humorous moments and a few very heavy scenes, the tone of the film shifts dramatically. It’s not entirely clear where this feature lands on the comedy-drama scale, the violent shift from romance and loss to hijinks is too demanding and inconsistent to be entirely satisfying. Also containing a few fight sequences, the action does not deliver anything noteworthy, with each sequence being chopped up and some even hard to follow.

Another twist to the story is the fact that after Vlad finds Mina, a dead ringer for Elisabeta, it turns out she is a reincarnation of Vlad’s love. Resisting visions of their shared past and Vlad at first, Mina eventually abandons her life and fiancée to join Vlad back in his castle. An unexpected turn, the film doesn’t earn the quick turnaround and makes it feel like Mina has no agency, as she apparently has to go with the immortal warlord and be with him, because they were hitched 400 years ago.

Perhaps most damning of all, Christoph Waltz is involved in the feature. Playing the stand-in for Van Helsing, ‘the Priest’ operates as a clergyman with extracurricular interests that focus very much on the study of vampires. Disappointing to see so little of him, Waltz is a wasted talent in the feature as he works incrementally as exposition dumps whenever the audience needs to catch up on where we are in the story. Capable of so much more, seeing Waltz here is a disappointment as his charisma and prowess seem stifled and underused for this.

A curious note to finish on, Vlad is talked into ending his own life by the Priest in order to save Elisabeta’s, as Vlad had turned her into a vampire. Ending his own existence, Mina / Elisabeta is left grieving over his ashen remains. This raises a few questions, most prominently - how is Elisabeta supposed to live out her life, having received confirmation of the fact that her previously expressed concerns for not belonging in the right time are absolutely accurate.

With a few glimpses of fun artistic expression and novel twists, ‘Dracula’ could constitute someone’s movie night title, but with the tonal inconsistencies, lack of cohesion and the feel of a handful of fun ideas just being strung together, maybe it’s worth checking out the dozens of other options?

Score: 1/4