Dracula Movie Critique – Luc Besson’s Romantic Reinterpretation of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Entertaining
Perhaps there is no great enthusiasm for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for glossiness and bloat. Still, it has to be said: his opulently crafted romantic vampire tale displays creativity and style – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable compared with Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, such as a scene that seems to depict a territorial boundary between France and Romania.
Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz portrays a humorous yet burdened man of the church pursuing the undead – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the malevolent vampire count, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone evoking Steve Carell’s Gru of the Despicable Me series. This character that he too was born to take on.
The Narrative: A Chronicle of Longing
The story is this: Dracula has wandered endlessly the globe in torment for hundreds of years since he became undead, a consequence for his faithless sorrow following the loss of his spouse Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has sought relentlessly for a lady who might be the reincarnation of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the chosen woman is revealed as Mina (also Bleu, of course), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to Dracula’s fortress to review his land assets and the tiny painting of the lovely Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.
Besson’s Direction and Humorous Style
Besson arranges Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he doesn’t shy away from providing humorous scenes in the style of Mel Brooks – for example the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to commit suicide following Elisabeta’s passing, along with farcical scenes that occur when Dracula applies to himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, that renders him unavoidably attractive to females. Absurd yet engaging.
Dracula is on digital platforms beginning on the first of December and on DVD and Blu-ray from 22 December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.