Friday, 3 October 2014

"Dracula Untold" (The Guardian 03/10/14)


Dracula Untold **
Dir: Gary Shore. With: Luke Evans, Dominic Cooper, Sarah Gadon. 92 mins. Cert: 15

This cursory reboot adopts the Mirth-free Mythology tactic beloved of modern superhero ventures. To save Transylvania, Luke Evans’ RADA-diction Vlad the Impaler accepts a taster of eternal life as though it were free anti-virus software; a Bisto-tanned Dominic Cooper is his boy-coveting Turkish nemesis. Adland graduate Gary Shore gives it a functional sheen, but is mostly exercised trying to obscure budgetary shortfalls with cheaper-by-the-dozen CG bats and the usual slapdash cutting. Its no-frills, B-movie modesty might have been winning if the whole didn’t seem so dashed-off: the concluding sequel set-up is both more promising than anything preceding it and optimistic, to say the least.

Dracula Untold opens in cinemas nationwide today.

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