Dracula Movie Critique – The French Director’s Passionate Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Watchable

It’s possible there is no great enthusiasm for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for glossiness and bloat. However, one must admit: his richly designed love story with vampires has ambition and panache – and amid its theatrical camp, I might just favor compared with 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.

Waltz as a Clever but Weary Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz embodies a humorous yet burdened vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The same goes for the evil Count Dracula, played by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone similar to Steve Carell’s Gru in the Despicable Me films. It’s a role suits him perfectly.

The Story: A Chronicle of Longing

The story is this: the vampire lord has been restlessly roaming the world in torment over four centuries following his rise as one of the undead, a consequence due to his blasphemous mourning following the loss of his wife, Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). the vampire has looked tirelessly for a female who could be the rebirth of his departed beloved. By cruel fate, the lucky lady is revealed as Mina (also Bleu, of course), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the vampire’s estate to review his property portfolio and whose miniature portrait of the charming Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Lighthearted Touch

Besson arranges Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he is not above giving us humorous scenes in the style of Mel Brooks – for example the count’s repeated and futile attempts to kill himself after Elisabeta’s death, along with comical sequences that follow Dracula douses himself using a particular scent in historic Florence, which makes him unavoidably attractive to females. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula is available digitally from 1 December and in disc format from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.