Wes's Grade: C-
"Dracula Untold" a big-budgeted, stylish but dull version of the legendary vampire lacks bite
Dracula never seemed so bland in the new action thriller "Dracula Untold," a stylish, fast-paced but dull and unsatisfying version of the famous vampire that seems intent on turning Dracula into an action hero. The peacful reign of Transylvanian prince Vlad III Țepes ("Fast & Furious 6's" Luke Evans) is threatened by Sultan Mehmed II (Dominic Cooper), who demands 1,000 of his principality's boys, including Vlad’s own son, Ingeras, to join his army. In order to save his son, his wife Mirena (Sarah Gadon) and the kingdom he loves, Vlad enters into a special bargain with a dark sorcerer that gives him a special strength to defeat his enemies. However, he will be afflicted with an insatiable thirst to drink human blood and ultimately becoming legendary vampire Dracula. Directed by Gary Shore in his feature film debut as director and very loosely based on Bram Stoker's "Dracula," this vapid, stylish version of Dracula really lacks bite, and seems refashioned for the millennials: lots of special effects, lots of action and blood that pushes its PG-13 rating yet without much substance; much like the recent version of "Hercules" with The Rock that flopped, it has a lot of appeal but seems dumbed-down. Technically, some of it is sublime: the music from Grammy-nominated Ramin Djawadi is often compelling and the photography from John Schwartzman ("Saving Mr. Banks") is handsome, but the script from Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless needs considerable more polish, but the directive to them seems to dumb it down for the new age, and a sluggish first 30 minutes doesn't help either. A lot of money was spent on this new version, much of it looks good (and if you like bats, there's a crapload of them here - albeit mostly CGI), and Evans is a handsomely bland vampire, but "Dracula Untold" needs much more substance and dark shadows to make an impact, and it seems to miss the point. Not worth it but many may take a look to see what it's about anyway.
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