Review of Dracula Untold (2014) by Lou A — 23 Dec 2016

An interesting concept and a good share of effort, but still somewhat of a letdown. The idea of humanizing Dracula, by giving him a sympathetic backstory, works for the most part. As does giving him new abilities and viscerally showing audiences what it is like for him to possess them.

But this is the first film for both the writers and the director, and it shows. Evans is very good, and he has great chemistry with Gadon, but the development of their romance feels lacking, much like every other aspect of the story.

It is evident that the screenplay could have used a re-write. The climax, however, is actually beautifully dark, thrilling, and shot superbly. Overall it entertains, but Universal's main purpose with this film (to establish a shared cinematic universe with reboots of their classic movie-monsters) is just, for the lack of a better word, downright silly.