Dracula Movie Critique – Luc Besson’s Romantic Revamp of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Entertaining

Perhaps audiences aren’t clamoring for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for glossiness and bloat. Still, it has to be said: his richly designed love story with vampires boasts bold vision and flair – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I might just favor over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, including one shot that appears to show a land border between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Witty Yet Careworn Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz embodies a humorous yet burdened cleric fighting vampires – I can’t believe he hasn’t played such a part earlier – who arrives in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. So does the sinister Dracula, enacted by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent evoking Steve Carell’s Gru from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role suits him perfectly.

The Plot: A Saga of Heartbreak

The plot unfolds as follows: the vampire lord has wandered endlessly the earth in torment for 400 years after his transformation into a vampire, a punishment due to his blasphemous mourning after the passing of his beloved Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has sought relentlessly for a female who might be the reincarnation of his lost love. As ill fortune would have it, the chosen woman proves to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the demure fiancee of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the vampire’s estate to review his property portfolio and whose miniature portrait of the winsome Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Direction and Comic Flair

Besson organizes Dracula’s second-act backstory of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he is not above offering funny bits in the style of Mel Brooks – for example the count’s repeated and futile attempts to commit suicide following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as absurd moments that occur when Dracula applies to himself with a specific fragrance in historic Florence, which causes him to be irresistible to women. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula is on digital platforms beginning on the first of December and in disc format from December 22nd. It will be shown in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.