In Universal Pictures latest incarnation of rebooting their classic movie monster franchises, Dracula Untold blends Romanian history with vampire lore.
Vlad (Luke Evans) has taken his place as Prince of Romania after being a slave to the Ottoman Turks. Vlad believes there could be peace with Sultan Mehmed (Dominic Cooper) who were the best of friends in their youth. However with Ottoman scouts being savagely mutilated in Romania, Mehmed finds this to be an act of war and demands tribute of 1,000 boy soldiers, including Vlad’s son Ingeras (Art Parkinson). With the support of his wife Mirena (Sarah Gadon) and accepting the cure of the vampire, Vlad destroys the Turkish army and saves Romania.
This one was a fun watch. It’s definitely and fantasy action film instead of a horror flick, but the visuals are fantastic. Cooper’s accent his horrible, but it does not overshadow his acting and Evans was a good Vlad. The sacrifice of self for the good of God, country and family is played up but done well. The big issue is that with all the effort put into details, the set designers and director neglected that the religious iconography and monastic dress were Roman Catholic and not Eastern Orthodox.
The Sick Man of Europe has committed countless atrocities and if you are Arab, Armenian, Assyrian, Greek, Persian, Romanian or any other ethnic group that endured torture by the Ottoman’s you’ll want to watch vampires annihilate them. If you are not one for ethnic strife and holding on to an ancient grudge, then check it out as a fun popcorn movie.
Dracula Untold opens Friday, October 10, 2014.
