Dracula Review – Besson’s Romantic Revamp of the Gothic Classic is Ridiculous but Watchable
It’s possible interest is limited for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for polished extravagance. However, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted vampire romance has ambition and panache – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable to it to Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, such as a scene that seems to depict a geographic divide between France and Romania.
The Veteran Actor as a Witty Yet Careworn Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz plays a clever but beleaguered cleric fighting vampires – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. Likewise present is the evil Count Dracula, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent similar to Steve Carell’s Gru from the Despicable Me comedies. This character he seemed destined to play.
The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing
Here’s the premise: Dracula has been restlessly roaming the globe in sorrow for 400 years since he became undead, a punishment for his faithless sorrow after the passing of his wife, Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). the vampire has been searching, searching, searching for some woman who might be the return of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady is revealed as Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to Dracula’s fortress to review his real estate holdings and the tiny painting of the winsome Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
Besson’s Direction and Lighthearted Touch
Besson structures Dracula’s middle-section history of global roaming in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he willingly includes offering some comedy moments with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – such as the count’s repeated and futile attempts to kill himself after Elisabeta’s death, as well as absurd moments that follow Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, which makes him unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula can be streamed online starting December 1st and in disc format from 22 December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.
