Dracula Movie Critique – Luc Besson’s Romantic Revamp of the Gothic Classic is Absurd but Engaging

It’s possible audiences aren’t clamoring for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for polished extravagance. However, it has to be said: his opulently crafted love story with vampires boasts bold vision and flair – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, such as a scene that seems to depict a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz plays a humorous yet burdened vampire-hunting priest – it’s surprising he never took on this role before – who ends up in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. The same goes for the sinister Dracula, brought to life by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent evoking Carell’s Gru character from the Despicable Me comedies. This character he seemed destined to play.

The Story: A Chronicle of Longing

Here’s the premise: the vampire lord has wandered endlessly the world in torment over four centuries since he became undead, a penalty due to his blasphemous mourning following the loss of his wife, Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). the vampire has sought relentlessly for a female who would be the rebirth of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady proves to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the vampire’s estate to review his property portfolio and the small picture of the winsome Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

Besson’s Handling and Lighthearted Touch

Besson arranges Dracula’s flashback sequence of global roaming in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he is not above offering some comedy moments with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to commit suicide after Elisabeta’s death, in addition to absurd moments that result after Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, that renders him irresistible to women. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula is available digitally beginning on the first of December and in disc format starting the twenty-second of December. It screens in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.