Dracula Movie Critique – Besson’s Love-Struck Revamp of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Ridiculous but Watchable
It’s possible interest is limited for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for polished extravagance. Still, one must admit: his opulently crafted vampire romance displays creativity and style – and amid its theatrical camp, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer to it to Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, including one shot that appears to show a land border between France and Romania.
Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz portrays a witty yet careworn cleric fighting vampires – it’s surprising he never took on this role before – who ends up in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. Likewise present is the sinister Dracula, brought to life by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell of the Despicable Me series. This character that he too was born to take on.
The Story: A Chronicle of Longing
Here’s the premise: the vampire lord has traveled ceaselessly the earth in sorrow for hundreds of years following his rise as one of the undead, a consequence for his irreligious grief after the passing of his beloved Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). the vampire has been searching, searching, searching for a lady who would be the reincarnation of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady turns out to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who just traveled to Dracula’s fortress to negotiate his land assets and the tiny painting of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.
Besson’s Direction and Comic Flair
Besson organizes Dracula’s second-act backstory of international journeys in various outrageous costumes skillfully, and he doesn’t shy away from giving us humorous scenes reminiscent of Mel Brooks – for example Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to commit suicide post-Elisabeta’s demise, as well as comical sequences that occur when Dracula sprays himself with a specific fragrance in 18th-century Florence, which makes him compelling to the opposite sex. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula is available digitally from 1 December and on DVD and Blu-ray starting the twenty-second of December. It screens in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.
