Dracula Movie Critique – Luc Besson’s Passionate Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Entertaining

Maybe there is no great enthusiasm for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for glossiness and bloat. However, it has to be said: his richly designed romantic vampire tale has ambition and panache – and with its B-movie charm, I might just favor over Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that seems to depict a land border between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz portrays a humorous yet burdened vampire-hunting priest – it feels natural for him to tackle this character previously – who arrives in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. The same goes for the malevolent vampire count, played by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent evoking Carell’s Gru character in the Despicable Me films. It’s a role he seemed destined to play.

The Plot: A Saga of Heartbreak

The plot unfolds as follows: the vampire lord has wandered endlessly the earth in torment over four centuries following his rise as one of the undead, a consequence for his faithless sorrow after the passing of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has looked tirelessly for some woman who might be the return of his departed beloved. By cruel fate, the fortunate female is revealed as Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to Dracula’s fortress to negotiate his property portfolio and whose miniature portrait of the winsome Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Lighthearted Touch

Besson arranges Dracula’s second-act backstory of international journeys sporting extravagant attire with a sure hand, and he willingly includes providing humorous scenes in the style of Mel Brooks – such as the count’s repeated and futile attempts to end his own life after Elisabeta’s death, in addition to farcical scenes that follow Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, that renders him unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula is available digitally from 1 December and in disc format starting the twenty-second of December. It screens in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.