Dracula Untold: Vampire, war, vengeance

Dracula, the bloodsucking count, has captured moviemaker’s imaginations for decades. He has been told, retold, reinterpreted and reinvented time and time again in different forms. What began as an eerie tale of a count who became undead at night to drink human blood has transformed over the years. Dracula has been painted as a schemer, a womanizer, a merciless killer, even a complete idiot (in a spoof). The name Dracula has moved out of the horror genre and into pure action over the past few years. So, what else is left that is new and that can be tried with Dracula? He is now a savior, a prince who takes up a curse so that he can wield the power that saves his people. Now, that is something new!

The prince was once a ruthless slayer, a warrior who impaled his enemies. But he now wants peace

and no more war. As they say, peace is forged by war, and even though he hates it, war comes to his doorstep because there are other men who covet power above all else. The prince has to defend his people and he knows that the enemy is too big and its will too strong. To conquer the enemy the prince will have to invoke a power that might just take him to the dark side. He makes the choice. Does he cross over to the dark side or does his soul have the strength to use the powers only to defend his people and nothing else?

In many ways, this is not a real Dracula film. The only thing ‘Draculaic’ about it is its name. The premise has parallels with many other warrior movies we have seen over the years. Its about one man’s will to save his fellow men from the wrath of the enemy. The only difference here being that the man chooses to become a terrifying monster to fight his battles. The fun in watching Dracula films is in watching him being the antihero! Here, the protagonist is more righteous than anyone else – hardly the stuff that Draculas are made of. He resists his unquenchable thirst for human blood, he resists attacking his own people even when they try to take his life. Yet, he is Dracula.

The film moves at a fairly leisurely pace with no major spikes throughout its duration. It is a pretty

linear and simply narrated action set piece, where one battle follows another at regular intervals. The action blocks themselves are pretty enjoyable though we have seen many like this, and quite a few that are better than this. The only times when we really sit up during the fist 75 minutes or so is during the prince’s encounter with a demon inside a deep dark cave during his quest for unlimited power. But the film really does surprise you with the way it ends. From the moment he becomes the monster you see the prince fighting the evil within him, unleashing it only during the battles. You can see him trying to remain human even as the dark threatens to engulf him. And then, the end is something that most of us would not predict. Thos final 15 minutes or so make Dracula Untold worth a watch.

Finally, with a character as popular and mythical as Dracula, the dialogues ought to have been far far more fun and memorable. The only thing one can remember is ‘Let the games begin’!

Verdict: ‘Undraculaic’ Action flick with an unpredictable end

2.5/5