"Sometimes, the world doesn't need another hero.
Sometimes, what it needs is a monster."
Hello everyone!
I'm back with another movie blog, although my backlog of movies that I have yet to see hasn't gotten any shorter yet, despite all my attempts to do so.
I just keep getting distracted!
Whether it's because of Dancing with the Stars or because Outlander has just premiered again (season two, woohoo!), I almost never have time to actually watch a movie for two hours straight unless something drastic happens. This is one of the many reasons why I'm usually pretty content once shows end for the summer break between seasons, because at least then I can pick up the slack and watch everything I missed out on during the rest of the year.
But the movie I'll be talking about tonight is actually one that I really, truly should have seen at least a year ago, and never got to it. I finally managed to do so though and I can honestly say that I enjoyed it, regardless of a lot of negative criticism that's rolling around the world wide web.
I'm talking about Dracula Untold.
We begin the story with a narrator we don't actually know yet (and I honestly thought it would have been Dracula himself, only once the man started talking, it became clear that it had to be someone else describing the vampire's life) telling the story of Vlad (Luke Evans), a prince of Transylvania, who was given as royal hostage to the Turks as a child and grew in the sultan's court, training to become a warrior for the empire. During those years, he became known as 'Vlad the Impaler' because of his preferred method of leaving his enemies with pikes driven through them.
But it didn't sit well with him, and once he was free to leave, having served his term, he returned home and married, starting a family of his own and simply looking after his own land, his own people.
Our story truly begins when Vlad and some of his entourage are convinced that Turks are in the area, and we get a first glimps of something ... other-worldy hiding inside Broken Tooth mountain.
We dno't yet know what it is, though, as we're kind of distracted by the arrival of the imperial messenger who is demanding one thousand boys for Mehmet's army; Vlad, who had grown up with Mehmet, tries to negotiate, but the only thing this gets him is that his own son should be added to the list (on a side note, we finally know what Rickon Stark was up to while everyone else of his brothers and sisters is trying to survive!).
As a viewer, you think for a moment that he's going to do this - and save his people from certain anihilation - but Vlad turns on Mehmet and instead, goes to Broken Tooth mountain, where he meets the Master Vampire (Charles Dance). They strike a deal: the vampire will give Vlad powers to stop the invader, whereas Vlad, if he gives in and drinks human blood within three days of this, will release the vampire from his prison in the mountain, and become one himself.
Night number one passes alright - with a whole lot of impaled Turkish soldiers left behind as a farewell present.
Vlad explains to his wife Minerva (Sarah Gadon) what happened, and night number two starts: with a whole lot more death all around, but Vlad has still not given in to temptation.
But there's a problem: in the fortified monastery where the people are taking refuge, a priest exposes him for what he is, only to piss the would-be vampire even more. They don't have time for arguments however as Mehmet's army advances, and Vlad goes to fight them.
Unfortunately, it was a ruse, meant to distracthim as his son Ingreas is taken, and Minerva falls to her death, though she doesn't actually die until she begs Vlad to drink her blood and save their son.
He does so, and fulfills his promise, killing Mehmet despite the other man's excessive protection; but as he had transformed other fallen comrades into vampires to help him, they now want to kill Ingreas so that Vlad can rule them, the undead. Dracula (the name deriving from the lineage itself, Dracul, which actually means dragon) obviously says hell to the no to that, parts the clouds after giving Ingreas to the same priest who tried to burn him earlier, and burns everyone to crispy husks, himself included.
Or, well, maybe not.
As we learn Ingreas narrated the story about his father, we also see a Gypsy who revives Dracula on the battlefield - and the scene shifts to modern day London where Vlad meets a reincarnation of his wife, but doesn't know that the Master Vampire (still alive, the old goat) is following him, and apparently has grand plans in store.
The end!
I really liked this interpretation. I will admit, it's definitely not what you read about in Stoker's novel, or see in Gary Oldman's interpretation of Dracula, but it's certainly something that gives a whole lot of meaning to the reason WHY the man became a vampire. In the end, it all boils down to his love for his family, most notably his son. And in reality, what wouldn't we do for those we love most? I'm pretty sure becoming a vampire doesn't sound so bad to people in that perspective.
There was a slew of other known faces in the movie, Dominic Cooper included as Mehme, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the lot of them run around the countryside. I sincerly hope that they go through with a sequel, because it would be very interesting to see how this take on Dracula continues the story! The original did everything to get Mina again, but would this on, really, if he saw she had a chance of a better life?
We need a sequel!
xx
*images and video not mine
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