The Pros and Cons of a modern Masterpiece

Rating: Null/10 (17 December 1999)

First let me begin by saying this is one of my favorite films. With that in mind, I will begin with the pros. The Music: The sound score is so overwhelmingly brilliant it adds just the right air of classical Victorian mixed with a tenor of dominating intrigue. It is not as well mixed as the sound-score for Interview w/t Vampire but is definately one of my favorites. Gary Oldman's acting is the best rendition of Dracula to date. His accent is flawless and he is politely charming and menacing all at once. In all...his finest performance. He can only be upstaged by Anthony Hopkins who is the first actor to ADEQUATELY portray the role of Van Helsing. If you are familiar with the novel than you know that Hopkins' version stands truer to form than any other. The cinematagraphy is the most amazing I have ever seen. The camera angles, the lighting, the zoom-effects and the movement tricks are handled with such chaotic harmony that they are almost poetic. Truly original and creative filming. Renfield is truly the pitiable maniac that he is meant to be. A sane man fighting for his soul. I can not offer this movie enough praise. Every time I watch it, it scares the Hell out of me. But...its not perfect. Alas...the cons. Keanu Reeves???????????? What were they thinking? Why don't they get Boris Karloff? I think Karloff could do a better acting job from the grave than Reeves did. Reeves' performance did all but massacre the integrity of the story. His British accent is so forced and inconsistent that it is pathetically laughable. Another bad element of the story: We seem to have gone a little overboard with the costume concepts. Yes...I know Dracula is supposed to be a blonde. And yes I know that he should be expected to wear the cultural garb of a Wallachian Boyar. But he was just a little too frilly and ridiculous looking. I mean...how damn long does your cape have to be? It's a wonder he wasn't tripping and stumbling all over the place. Lastly....a little bit of clarification. Many people believe that Dracula is supposed to be some kind of Romantic tale set within a Gothic atmosphere. It's not. Read Stoker's novel. His seduction of Mina is not about Romance. It's about power. Pure and Simple. One human being exerting his power over another. It is rape. Except in this instance it is not the raping of something relatively unimportant such as a person's body. It is a rape of the soul and that is far worse and certainly not romantic. Mina acts in ways that are completely uncharacteristic. She is showed as being way to prim and proper to ever cheat on her husband to be with some stranger. Dracula dominates her entirely. She is not seduced or corrupted but completely overpowered. Be careful not to confuse that dominative aspect of his villainy with passion or seduction. It's not about that at all. The film...the novel...the lore...the history...the franchise. All excellent. Watch the film.