'Gary Oldman' is really a group of actors performing under that name

Rating: 7/10 (17 November 2006)

This is Coppola's inexcusably long but entertaining incarnation of Stoker's timeless 'Dracula'. Seeing it for the first time, I was sort of stunned by the theatricality of the the whole spectacle. It regrettably seems as though the heaviest weapon in the director's arsenal is style  and it shows in the large scale of sets, among other things.
The story should be well-known and here it opens faithfully in an intense prologue, setting the grisly and dramatic tone for the film. In the fiery midst of 15th century battle, Romanian warrior Vlad the Impaler denounces Christianity when his wife kills herself because she believes him dead  and is banished as a vampire as revenge by God. Cut to 1897 Victorian Europe, bursting with costumes, period tints and fine wine and the soon-to-be-married couple Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) and Mina Murray (Winona Ryder). Dracula now lives immortally in his dusty old castle where he imprisons Jonathan in the dungeons with his vampire brides... all to reconnect with Mina who is a reincarnation of his wife.
The above plot outline is by nature supernatural and over-the-top and Coppola rigorously subscribes to loyalty in translating the novel. It is therefore a highly exaggerated extravaganza, no hyperbole. With vivid special effects, lavish Gothic sets, melodramatic mannerisms, swooning maidens and evil-laughing villains, 'Dracula' takes and shakes you with flair and makes no pretense about it. This approach naturally renders whatever comedy emerges from the melodrama as camp as a row of tents, but we accept it because it is easy to get sucked in the sheer fun of the spectacle. All the while Coppola nods politely to classic horror with bloody gore that splatters in orgies.
Performances arguably take a backseat to the theatricality of the set. Yet, there are fine actors to be found when weeding through the lesser 'performances'. Speaking of which, let me debunk the myth that Keanu Reeves is awful as Jonathan Harker. Yes, his casting is plain puzzling  as is his permanent expression  but between all the ludicrous impersonations of his accents throughout the years ("dude"), I was almost positively surprised. The resident Hollywood deer-eyed damsel in distress Winona Ryder aptly chips in as Dracula's doomed maiden, who has now been reborn. It is no easy character to portray realistically but Ryder makes Mina/Elisabetha work fairly well.
But Dracula  character and film  belongs to Gary Oldman. Is there no character this man cannot believably inhabit? I think not. Here Oldman's chameleon-like charisma shapes and molds itself to form a perfectly charismatic and sometimes bruised Vlad/Dracula. I'm slowly reaching the conclusion that 'Gary Oldman' is really a group of actors performing under that name. It is also thanks to him that we are offered a few genuinely emotionally poignant moments, such as embracing Winona or the tragic and compelling fate of his past life, through the flashback device (which was very good in general).
Conclusion? Coppola has not created anything remarkable here; he ticks off a few too many clichés from the horror formula, even rehashing Dracula riffs; the acting is occasionally hammy; the whole thing often tips over into showy; it is too long  but weed through those shortcomings and Dracula is an epic horror adventure, interweaving love, lust, betrayal, passion, sin, jealousy, blood and eroticism in drafty old castles.
7 out of 10