Today’s quick review: Dracula Untold. In the fifteenth century, Vlad (Luke Evans), the prince of Transylvania, faces a terrible choice: send one thousand boys to the Turks to become slave warriors or face annihilation at the hands of the Turkish armies. To protect his wife Mirena (Sarah Gadon) and son Ingeras (Art Parkinson), Vlad makes a deal with a vampire (Charles Dance), taking on its powers and its curse to fight back against the Turks.
Dracula Untold is a historical fantasy action movie based loosely on the life of Vlad the Impaler. Dracula Untold casts Vlad in a heroic role, a wise ruler whose love for his people forces him to strike a terrible bargain. The movie takes what could have been a shaky premise and makes a surprisingly credible attempt at spinning it into a full story. However, Dracula Untold comes up short in a few key ways that keep its efforts from paying off.
Dracula Untold invests heavily in its plot and its characters. Luke Evans makes for a sympathetic protagonist in Vlad, a former janissary who must go to great and tragic lengths to keep his son from suffering the same fate. The characters in general are not deep, but they do serve the needs of the story. The conflicts and relationships in the film are straightforward but effective, yielding a robust story setup that has all it needs for success.
However, Dracula Untold doesn’t quite have the dramatic chops to see its story all the way through. Vlad’s love for his family and the horrible sacrifice he must make to protect them make for potent dramatic themes, but the film overplays its hand and fumbles the execution of several key moments. The film also seems wed to the premise that one vampire can take on an army, skewing the plot and with it the outcome of the personal drama.
As for action, Dracula Untold fits comfortably into the middle of the fantasy action genre. Before his vampiric transformation, Vlad is a skilled hand with a sword, dancing his way through Ottoman troops with the help of solid fight choreography. After taking on the vampire’s curse, the combat becomes even more lopsided. Vampires in the film seem to have almost unlimited power, turning the later combat into a flight of fancy instead of a tense struggle.
Watch Dracula Untold if you’re an action fan looking for a respectable mix of story and action. Though Dracula Untold never rises to the level of greatness, its fundamentals are strong enough to make it a worthwhile watch for those interested in what it has to offer. Skip it if you’re not interested in action for its own sake, or if you’re looking for a more impressive entry into the genre.
For vampire action with a modern twist, check out the Underworld series or the Blade trilogy. For another reimagining of a classic horror story, one with somewhat more dubious results, try I, Frankenstein.
6.3 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.5 for solid action and a solid story.