you can't go wrong with Gary Oldman

Rating: 7/10 (7 February 2005)

Pluses: 1. Gary Oldman. Very different Dracula, but also very convincing. The truth is, all the other famous Draculas were great too (Lee, Kinsky).Oldman does it differently, but he is great. The Romanian that he speaks in the movie is remarkable, very slight accent. He even got the tone pretty well, this is not some pathetic American actor throwing away words in a foreign language. 2. Atmosphere and screenplay. Combination of Ken Russel and John Carpenter, pretty credible. Of course it's commercial, I think it was meant to be. The weeding in the Orthodox church was remarkably well done. 3. All actors except Keanu Reeves 4. I believe the sexual innuendo and scenes fit well with the story.
Minuses: 1. Keanu Reeves. Sorry Keanu, but surfer, bozo or robot are just about your limits. 2. The gypsy characters. Mr. Coppola, those didn't look and act like Gypsies, they looked more like overdressed Mohawks. And that "Gipsies willing to give their lives to protect their noble master" simply doesn't hold. Apparently, your Romanian consultants were shallow at this one. I do not see Gypsies like that at all.
Overall, flawed, but got the atmosphere right and the acting and dialog was decent, on occasion excellent : (Van Helsing at the dinner table: "She suffered alright, we put a stick in her heart and cut off her head", approximately quoted. Loved that one.