--Master Vampire, Dracula Untold
"'Why think separately of this life and the next when one is born from the last?'"
--Dracula, Dracula Untold
From the lighting and cinematography to the acting to the contrast of Christianity and vampirism lurking in the background, Dracula Untold is far from the mediocre or abysmal movie plenty of other reviews might claim. It is extremely well-paced for a movie barely over an hour and a half with its credits, still managing in spite of the relatively short runtime to explore its lead character Vlad the Impaler, a more conflicted character this time around, and to feature multiple action scenes while slowly setting up vampire lore. I do not hope for the upcoming vampire movie Morbius to be another Venom and thus do almost nothing significant with its potential, but MCU connections alone will probably not raise Morbius to the level of this overlooked gem of a vampire film.
Production Values
Some moments plainly rely on CGI, but the absolutely atrocious CGI of the Hobbit films that also started Luke Evans around the same time as Dracula Untold is thankfully nowhere to be found. In fact, there are some great shots in action sequences or in moments of drama that further distance this Dracula retelling from the squandered opportunities of the Hobbit trilogy. In one scene where the camera is shown as if it is the sight of a dying Turkish soldier, the reflection on the blade shows parts of Vlad the Impaler's rampage using his new powers. In another scene aided by lighting, the bodies of many dead Turks impaled make for a macabre but creative shot as other Turks see the results of a previous attempt to defeat the prince of Transylvania. There is also much more to the movie than atmospheric cinematography.
Luke Evans is not just passable, but outright excellent in his portrayal of a husband, father, and ruler who truly struggles with his past abuse at the hands of Turks and his decision to give up his former brutality. His line delivery is much better than one might expect based on the critical reaction to Dracula Untold back in 2014. Sarah Gadon plays his affectionate wife Mirena well too, albeit with less screen time. She promises to fight alongside her husband to the death, shows sexual interest in him, and is instrumental in getting him to embrace his vampiric abilities; though she is not the primary character, she is actually a female character who breaks stereotypes in ways that are so naturally included that viewers might not even realize the intentional or unintentional egalitarian undertones. For this reason alone, her role is constructed cleverly.
While Dominic Cooper makes the most of his few scenes as villain Sultan Mehmed, Charles Dance is right at home in this world as the poetic, patient vampire eager to pass on his curse so that he can be free of the cave that has trapped him for so long--and he is not even the only person involved with Game of Thrones here, as Vlad and Mirena's son Ingeras is played by Art Parkinson (Rickon Stark) and Ramin Djawadi is credited with the soundtrack. Dance's lines and skill with presenting his dialogue stands out despite Luke Evans and the other more central actors and actresses still handling themselves superbly. He teases the scope of the demonic forces associated with his vampirism masterfully without ever revealing much supposed information about his power, and he is not wasted whatsoever (unlike in Godzilla: King of the Monsters).
Story
Some spoilers are below.
Having survived a brutal childhood as a conscripted soldier for the Turkish army, Vlad the Impaler has turned away from his past deeds to become a more just leader. Shortly before the Turkish Sultan Mehmed demands another 1,000 Transylvanian boys to fight on his behalf, he finds that some sort of creature residing in a mountain lair has killed Turks. Vlad refuses to hand over his son and kills Turkish soldiers, hoping that this being will somehow help him withstanding the war that is all but certain. The vampire offers him a chance to gain regenerative healing and superhuman strength on the condition that if he indulges his new desire for human blood instead of resisting for three days, he will release the vampire from the cave, and Vlad will eventually become its pawn in a metaphysical power struggle.
Intellectual Content
Not a sadistic man at all at first, Dracula is more of a complicated, thoughtful person here. There are enough moments where he speaks of his worldview that its loose structure can be understood. Vlad says, for instance, that feeling nothing while impaling his victims years ago was a "greater crime than the act itself," something that is logically impossible. Feeling or not feeling any particular emotion during any thought or action cannot make someone righteous or depraved because unless someone has total control over that feeling (or lack of it), only their beliefs, basis for beliefs, intentions, and actions on light of those beliefs be rational or irrational, just or unjust. Though he does not elaborate on the mistaken connection he might assume between moral judgment for emotions and his professed commitment to Christianity--which is mistaken because the God of Christianity only condemns beliefs, intentions, and deeds instead of involuntary emotions (and someone who feels no urge to be just or rational and yet becomes those things anyway is a person of incredible substance)--what he does get right about Christianity is the intertwined nature of the Christian afterlife and earthly life. Once, he states this in a context clearly relevant to Biblical ideas. The second time, he is seemingly talking about a kind of reincarnation, although the absence of sequels means no later movie came to clarify or further elaborate on the relationship between Christianity and vampirism in this world.
Conclusion
This film would have provided a far stronger and more subtle foundation for Universal's failed Dark Universe of interconnected monster stories than the 2017 remake of The Mummy. Luke Evans is perhaps at his best, the supporting cast actually shows its genuine talent, and the film balances the darkness of the subject matter with the PG-13 rating and the necessary story beats with the approximately 90 minute runtime. A longer version of Dracula Untold could have addressed the religious, personal, and broader metaphysical ideas mentioned or alluded to more thoroughly, of course, but in no way does this amount to anything close to a bad movie like so many have said. The cast, cinematography, and even the dialogue and writing possess a far higher quality than many other modern movies trying to reintroduce popular monsters in a PG-13 story.
Content:
1. Violence: Hands get severed from their arms in one scene, but for the most part, the violence is limited to stabbings or slashes with bladed weapons.
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