From: HADCRJAM@admin.uh.edu (MILLER, JIMMY A.)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies
Subject: Yet another _Dracula_ review (small spoliers)
Date: 16 Nov 1992 20:34:21 GMT
Organization: University of Houston Administrative Computing
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  This is a review for Francis Ford Coppola's _Dracula_.  There are a few
spoilers, so bail out now.
.


  Hrmm.  This film has some *MAJOR* problems during the first act.  I honestly
felt like getting up and walking out for a while.  Keanau (sp) Reeves was pain-
ful to watch as the proper Englishman Jonathan Harker, and the usually engaging
Winona Ryder seemed quite stilted as Mina.  There were bizarre effects invol-
ving shadows, movements, and visuals which seemed not only out of place but
frankly quite stupid.  Many of the visual effects also seemed so utterly cheesy
as to elicit laughter.  The use of diary-style narration was jarring in the
early going, and the movie was quite slow to develop (Let's leave out the
bizarre armor they hung on Vlad Dracul going out to battle the Turks).  The
only characters worth watching at all were Vlad himself and Mina's friend Lucy,
(played by Sadie Frost) who were both interesting, engaging, and even sympa-
thetic (especially as the movie wore on). 

  Then Vlad come to England, leaving Reeves to the tender mercies of his vamp-
iric harem (no joke, and I wish I had a bed like that).  Slowly, an entirely 
different movie begins to appear.  Ryder's Mina becomes much more real, and the
young version of Vlad manages to be both menacing and seductive.  The other
characters, though still lacking much depth, at least begin to seem real in
their words and deeds, and quit acting like they just memorized their lines
ten minutes beforehand.  Lucy, in fact, almost steals the show from Ryder (who
in all truth doesn't have much to do) in her portrayal of the girl being
tranformed into a vampire.  Her seductiveness, sudden fears and fits made her
real and sympathetic, and made her eventual death(s) that much more emotionally
engaging. 

  Before Lucy finally fades, however, Antony Hopkins enters as Otto Van 
Helsing, and quite thoroughly takes command of the screen.  His very enjoy-
able, sometimes campy, sometimes foreboding performance lifts the entire movie.
Reeve's reappearance after his escape from Vlad's castle (why he is left alive
is not really explained) seems to take heart from Hopkins, and he actually 
turns in a credible performance after this point. 

  The focus now on her character, Ryder does fine, though I honestly felt some-
thing lacking.  This I found dissappointing, as I'm a fan of Ryder, and felt 
she could have done a better job.  Still, it suffices, but only barely.

  Things finally start to move at the end, which a chase scene and fight, plus
a wry twist on things when Vlad chooses to be slain rather than condemn Mina
to life of the damned.  Despite all odds, this scene somehow worked for me.

  The sets and costuming (with some jarrying exceptions) were very nice, and
added to the feel of the film.  This movie has its problems, most of which I'm
tempted to plop into Coppola's lap.  Ridley Scott or Tim Burton could have done
much better. That this movie succeeds at all would seem to me to be in spite of
FFC, not due to any great vision of his.  As I noted earlier many of the
effects were not only cheap-looking (and thus failed in that measure to create
the mood they were after) but unnecessary -- the blue fire rings, for example. 
Puppet-like movements of figures in the battle scene.  Moving shadows, etc.
The exceptions to this were the supernatural creatures -- the vampires, the 
werewolf (it sure looked like one), and the accompanying blood.  Those at least
were well done. Much of the acting was wooden for far too long.  Some of the
dissolves (like from Lucy's fang-marks to the wolf eyes) are just plain stupid.
This movie is over-wrought and top-heavy.  It only succeeds well in the scenes
that contain some eroticism. 

  I was quite dissappointed.  This movie had some real potential but something
was lost somewhere along the way.  You had the feel of *something* good strain-
ing to get through, but no dice.  Unlike _Batman Returns_, which succeeded for 
me despite obvious flaws in the narrative, _Dracula_ could not quite make the 
same visceral impression.

  I would not pay full price for this movie.  Try a matinee or some other cut-
rate time (and try not to squirm too much for the first 30 minutes or so), or 
wait for video and fast-forward to the point where Reeves is seduced by the 
female vampires.  You'll be happy you did.

  This flick is rated R for nudity and some gore.


semper fi,

Jammer Jim Miller 
Texas A&M University '89 and '91
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