Dracula Movie Critique – The French Director’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Gothic Classic is Absurd but Watchable
Maybe there is no great enthusiasm for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for polished extravagance. And yet, one must admit: his opulently crafted vampire romance boasts bold vision and flair – and amid its theatrical camp, it could be preferable compared with Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, including one shot that looks like it presents a geographic divide between France and Romania.
The Veteran Actor as a Clever but Weary Priest Tracking the Undead
Christoph Waltz embodies a humorous yet burdened cleric fighting vampires – I can’t believe he hasn’t played such a part earlier – who ends up in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. So does the sinister Dracula, played by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect evoking Steve Carell’s Gru in the Despicable Me films. This is a part suits him perfectly.
The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing
The story is this: the count has wandered endlessly the earth in torment over four centuries after his transformation into a vampire, a consequence for his faithless sorrow after the passing of his spouse Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). The count has looked tirelessly for some woman who might be the return of his deceased partner. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady proves to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the count’s castle to negotiate his property portfolio and whose miniature portrait of the winsome Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
Besson’s Handling and Lighthearted Touch
Besson structures Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys sporting extravagant attire confidently, and he willingly includes providing funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to kill himself after Elisabeta’s death, as well as farcical scenes that occur when Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, which makes him compelling to the opposite sex. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula is available digitally beginning on the first of December and in disc format from 22 December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.
