Dracula Movie Critique – Besson’s Romantic Revamp of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Outlandish but Engaging

Perhaps there is no great enthusiasm for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for glossiness and bloat. Still, one must admit: his opulently crafted romantic vampire tale boasts bold vision and flair – and amid its theatrical camp, it could be preferable to it to Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, such as a scene that seems to depict a geographic divide between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Clever but Weary Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz plays a clever but beleaguered man of the church pursuing the undead – it’s surprising he never took on this character previously – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. So does the sinister Dracula, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect evoking the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role suits him perfectly.

The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing

The plot unfolds as follows: Dracula has traveled ceaselessly the world in anguish for 400 years after his transformation into a vampire, a punishment for his faithless sorrow over the death of his beloved Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). The count has sought relentlessly for a female who could be the return of his deceased partner. By cruel fate, the lucky lady proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the count’s castle to negotiate his property portfolio and the small picture of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Direction and Humorous Style

Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of global roaming in various outrageous costumes skillfully, and he is not above giving us humorous scenes in the style of Mel Brooks – like the count’s repeated and futile attempts to kill himself post-Elisabeta’s demise, along with absurd moments that occur when Dracula sprays himself in a certain perfume in 18th-century Florence, which causes him to be irresistible to women. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula can be streamed online from 1 December and on DVD and Blu-ray from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.