A decent story made worse.

Rating: 4/10 (19 July 2004)

Dracula. A classic vampire novel, a good story (though in my opinion, could have been better told).
Dracula - the 1992 movie? It takes a decent story, and rips it apart. Had I not read the book, some parts would have had me very confused. As it was, I was confused by why explanations were left out, and the romance between Mina and Dracula thrown in.
Dracula of the novel does not love, not mortals. Mina is simply a pawn to be used, nothing more, really. Why drag in a love story between the two, when, had it been better done, the love story of Jack, Arthur, Quincey, and Lucy, or of Jonathon and Mina could have been emphasized. At least those tales were in the novel.
And while Anthony Hopkins does a great job of Van Helsing, the character of the movie seems far less sane than the Van Helsing of the book, and far less caring.
While Jack, Arthur, Quincey, and Jonathon's characters were unaltered (and Renfield altered only slightly), instead of being the major characters, they have taken up secondary roles to Mina and Dracula. Why?
The movie is okay. Ir makes for an interesting vampire film. But if you want an adaptation of the book, look elsewhere. This is more like an adaption of the Spark Notes.