Movie Review: Dracula Untold 2014 *The Blood Legend Begins*
Ok so my friend Lewis hit me up on Monday via text
and said “Yo, lets go watch Dracula on Wednesday night, tickets on me” I
immediately did my read up on the title and watched the trailer and replied
“Hell Yeah”.
Before that, I had come across
the title but it wasn't on my watch list, I have already seen too many Dracula
and vampire stories so wasn't sure about this. The trailer won me over immediately;
it promised a lot so I had high expectations for this movie.
Dracula Untold,
With his kingdom and his family under threat from a warlord, a
King makes a deal with a dangerous supernatural force whilst trying to avoid
succumbing to the darkness of the power he is given himself.
Sounds pretty much plain, right? Well this is SIMPLY the BEST
Dracula story I have ever seen. Yes, the
movie didn't disappoint. Who ever came
up with this story line really did well. Since the idea of “Dracula” is just a mythical legend with no
actual facts (that I know off) to confirm or support it, I feel this script
certainly does well to give some actual meaning to this idea of “Dracula”. This
one is more believable that any of the others I have seen. We get to see a man
go to the very extreme for the sake of his family and his people.
The movie starts of with a young boy’s voice giving a
narrative that almost immediately captures your attention and prepares you for
an interesting story line. Actually the movie doesn't stray away from its main
path. The writers knew exactly what they wanted to tell and went straight for
it. That made its 92mins duration seem quite shorter. If you get engrossed in
the story like I was, I am very sure you wouldn't even notice the time pass
that quickly.
Luke Evans (Shaw from Fast & Furious 6) plays the role of King Vlad (Dracula). His cold and
vindictive nature really suited the role. Top of my head, I can’t imagine
anyone else playing this particular role better than he did. I can only guess
how difficult it can be for any actor to play a “Good-Bay guy” or a “Bad-Good guy”
role. I can’t fault any of the other actors in the movie as well. Dominic Cooper (the warlord) on the opposite side did an excellent job as
well (his accent was so good; I almost didn't recognize him till half way
through the movie). For me the casting was right on track.
For a movie classed not just Action and Drama but Fantasy as
well there would certainly be the need for some Computer
Generated Imagery (GGI) to
portray the fantasy element well enough. This movie did deliver on that. The
visual effects were so good that at some point I thought my eyes where playing
tricks on me. A 2D
movie that had so much of a 3D
feel. Yes it was that good; I wonder why the movie wasn't made in 3D. In fact,
the visual effects did add more spice to this movie and made its viewing more
pleasurable.
Aside the fact that there too many night time scenes
(Obviously necessary for the story line) which I didn't like I hated the
terrible camera angles for the fight scenes. I don’t know if it was as a result
of the use of CGI ….but…. I just couldn't follow the fight scenes and most of
the time I would be left asking “What just happened or who hit who?” For me it became more like a job trying to
figure out what was actually happening in those scenes. I am very much sure I
would have enjoyed them better if the angles where much broader. Well lucky enough… It wasn’t that unnecessary
slow motion kind of fight scenes.
Surprisingly the movie ended with a twist that left me
wowed…. Looks like there is going to be a SEQUEL. From the way it ended it’s
pretty much obvious that there would be a follow up title (unless they are just
messing with me), and I honestly can’t wait to see it. It would definitely make
it to my watch list this time without any hesitation.
Overall I would rate this movie 6/10. It would have gotten a
point more if the fight scenes hadn't let me down that much. I was really in need of something to
entertain and clear my head and going to see this movie really did help…..rough
days. (That’s why I am putting down this
review even before I get some shut eye.)
Although this wasn’t an all round perfect movie, Lewis and I
did enjoy it. You just have to see this movie for yourself and find a way to
not disagree with me on how awesome it is. I would definitely love to watch it
all over again and certainly get my self a DVD when it is released. In the mean
time it just opened in cinemas so you should go check it out. It is worth it.
For any one who wants to just have a fun time watching a
vampire movie without being either bored or scared I strongly recommend this
title for you. Waste no time... Go see this movie.
Master Vampire: I have been waiting an eternity for a
man of your strength to arrive. But what kind of man crawls into his own grave
in search of hope?
Vlad: A desperate one.
