Dracula Untold: Film Review

Luke Evans as Vlad the Impaler

The brilliance of Dracula Untold is not, as one would assume, in the newly elucidated version, its plot, but in the impacted performance of the film’s lead. 
Against the backdrop of flat dialogue and superficial supporting performances, Luke Evans transforms the infamous Vlad the Impaler from a sadistic, blood thirsty warrior into a sympathetic anti-hero choosing an unconventional way to save his family. 

There seemed, also, to be a great haste in the film’s development of plot, rushing through its storytelling of Vlad’s younger days in order to set up a deflated conflict between two characters whose chemistry had not been established in any aesthetic way.  A missed opportunity to showcase a compassionate affection tied into a youthful bond, especially given the two actors, Luke Evans and Dominic Cooper both have starred together in another film, Tamara Drewe.  Their familiarity with each other could have given the film a familial feel that was missing. 

I was also disappointed in the limited characterization of Mirena (Sarah Gadon), which I believed could have been so much more than a cliché plot device for the anti-hero’s return to vampiric revenge that would plague him for centuries.  It is simply tiring that female characters continue to be nothing more than sacrificial lambs to propel the male protagonist into his climatic battle of the last act, but this is, unfortunately, how films in Hollywood are made. 

Dracula Untold is average in plot, but makes up for it in action sequences.  One scene, in particular, stood out the most.  With a thousand men to one, Vlad, with his newfound powers, takes flight toward the desolation of his enemies, which can be seen through the reflection of a sword impaled inside a falling solider. 

In the words of papa Lannister (because he is forever papa Lannister) and resident master vampire (Charles Dance), “Let the games begin.”  Though, for us, the audience, we never see the games begin for alas the film ends too quickly, hinting at a possible sequel that most likely will not happen.  All the more disappointing since the 21^st century retelling of Dracula with Luke Evans would make more money than any archaic origin story of the impaler.