Brilliant

Rating: 9/10 (18 May 2019)

This is a film about how understanding and misunderstanding propagate destiny. Everyone is following their own little role in life imposed upon them by their circumstances. The spirit of their time and their personal position within that era dictate their actions. Mina feels resistance to hanging out with the rich people. Any violation of their sense of reality is labelled as insanity. Harker and Renfield are deemed insane by people that didn't come into contact with Dracula. These rules hold true for everyone except for Dracula, who escaped the bounds of time, and van Helsing, who escaped the expectations of his position in life. Van Helsing is a professor and is expected to be totally rational and scientific and yet he beliefs in the supernatural. He always knew that his knowledge was leading him towards some great work, and here it is. Dracula. Both characters are aware of wisdom beyond ordinary comprehension whereas all the other characters get sucked into events that elude their understanding. Because of how stuck they are in their own time they are simply unable to understand van Helsing. They're prisoners of fate and van Helsing and Dracula creators of it.
How was van Helsing led towards Dracula? How did Dracula become a supernatural force? Those are questions that even van Helsing and Dracula themselves don't understand, which van Helsing admits in the movie. All they can do is play their roles in the context of possessing that knowledge. So it turns out that there is a hierarchy of fate, with 'God' at the top.
Several strong points of this film: Engaging and creative cinematography and art direction. Beautiful sets and costumes. The soundtrack is very fitting and beautiful. Good pacing. Whenever things seem to be getting a bit dull some amazing scene unfolds and draws you right back into the movie. The story feels very solid and fleshed out. That's undoubtably so because of the strong source material on which the film is based.
The acting is great too. Keanu Reeves performance is cool. It feels like he is a bit of an anxious guy just trying to do his job and live a good life. Van Helsing is a typical Dutchman. He is very blunt, intelligent and doesn't care much about being judged by others when he does his thing. Brilliantly portrayed by Anthony Hopkins. But Gary Oldman really steals the show as Dracula. An incalculable dark creature of the night who commands respect and imposes his will, yet a tragic anti-hero all at the same time. Winona Ryder is lovely and she plays the role of being slowly seduced very convincingly.
Why don't I rate this movie a 10? Because if the movie was an hour longer with more character development it would have had the potential to become a classic epic of cinema like Apocalypse Now, The Good the Bad and the Ugly or Matrix Revolutions. Just like in Interview with the Vampire there is still room for more. 9/10.