Dracula Movie Critique – Luc Besson’s Passionate Reimagining of the Gothic Classic is Ridiculous but Entertaining
It’s possible audiences aren’t clamoring for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for glossiness and bloat. And yet, one must admit: his richly designed romantic vampire tale has ambition and panache – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable compared with Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, including one shot that appears to show a territorial boundary between France and Romania.
Waltz as a Clever but Weary Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered man of the church pursuing the undead – it’s surprising he never took on this role before – who arrives in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The same goes for the evil Count Dracula, played by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone evoking the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role he seemed destined to play.
The Story: A Chronicle of Longing
The story is this: the vampire lord has traveled ceaselessly the earth in sorrow for hundreds of years following his rise as one of the undead, a penalty for his faithless sorrow over the death of his beloved Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has looked tirelessly for a female who might be the rebirth of his lost love. Unfortunately, the lucky lady is revealed as Mina (again played by Bleu), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to Dracula’s fortress to review his property portfolio and whose miniature portrait of the charming Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.
Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair
Besson organizes Dracula’s flashback sequence of global roaming wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he willingly includes offering humorous scenes reminiscent of Mel Brooks – like Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to commit suicide following Elisabeta’s passing, in addition to absurd moments that occur when Dracula applies to himself in a certain perfume in historic Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Ridiculous and watchable.
Dracula is on digital platforms from 1 December and for physical purchase from December 22nd. It screens in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.
