Director: Gary Shore
Writers: Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless
Cast: Luke Evans, Dominic Cooper, Charles Dance, Sarah Gadon, Art Parkinson
Studio: Universal
“Dracula Untold” opens up on the young Vlap Tepes as he rises to power in Transylvania. The young man is dubbed Dracula, as he slaughters the Turkish invaders and makes a ton of Eastern European folk into his followers. Unfortunately, the Sultan keeps pressing harder into Transylvania and Vlad is without options. Fearing that his son will be drafted into the Turkish army, Vlad contacts a strange creature hiding in a nearby mountain. While there he finds an older man that convinces Vlad that he can turn him into a vampire. Magical monster stuff and now Vlad has the power to stop the Turks.
Universal wants to turn their Classic Monsters into a mega franchise in the worst way. Apparently, the elder vampire (Charles Dance) is going to function in a Nick Fury role in order to pull together the monsters. Seeing as how he functioned as a Ras Al Ghul to the early days of Dracula, it’s pretty neat. However, great ideas will only get you so far. The power set for Dracula is far too vague and the push to make the Turks into a bigger adversary smacks of 300 in the Middle Ages. Still, I can see a larger framework for the Monster Series coming together.
If this plan works out, we’re going to have new versions of these monsters to carry their respective franchises into a new century. I’m not going to take about the final scene, but I will say that it promises more than what this film delivered. What’s funny is that it plays like closer to what I expected while this entire film plays like a giant First Act. Had the film been bad, I would have no issue taking it apart. This is something far more frustrating, as it’s a great idea left to die on the vine. A far greater creative team could’ve killed with this movie.
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!