Dracula Untold

     This was an unexpected find…my friend had put it onto my external hard drive, telling me that it was a good movie. After several weeks (and out of sheer boredom), I sat down and watched it on my computer. Not 15 min. into the film and I was utterly taken surprise by the depth and quality of this story! What Dracula Untold does is go back and weave fantasy into history. It gives the origins of Prince Vlad’s transformation into the most feared of creatures, but also portrays deep emotion and humanity in this one man’s struggle to protect his family, his country and his soul.

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     In 15th century Transylvania, Prince Vladimir or Vlad (Luke Evans), Son of the Dragon, is one of the most feared warriors of his age. While Transylvania was ruled by the Turks, the king took young boys over the age of ten and trained them in brutal and unmerciful regimes to prepare them for war. Vlad rose to become the notorious Vlad the Impaler because of his uncanny ability to drive stakes though his enemies and then plant them in the ground for the world to see and take fear. After years of fighting, Vlad puts down the stake and chooses the Cross, repenting his sins of brutality and murder. He returns home to Transylvania and brings peace and prosperity to his people and unending happiness to his wife, Mirena (Sara Gadon) and son, Ingeras (Art Parkinson).

     Ten years later, the Turkish sultan, Mehmed (Dominic Cooper), informs Vlad that he requires 1,000 boys for his genocides corps, Vlad now risks losing his beloved son. When he defies the sultan and saves his son, Vlad runs to the hills where he finds a monster that is said to be the immortal vampire (Charles Dance). He gives Vlad a chance to save his son and his people by making him an all powerful creature with advanced senses, speed and shapeshifting. All Vlad has to do is resist the urge to drink human blood for three days. If he succeeds, then he can defeat his enemies and return back to human form. If he doesn’t then he dooms himself to the life of the legendary vampire.

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Top: Luke Evans as Princ Vlad//Dracula and Sarah Gadon as Mirena
Bottom: Dominic Cooper as Mehmed and Charles Dance as the Master Vampire

     Luke Evans as Prince Vlad//Dracula: To say that Luke Evans was good would be an understatement. What I loved about his character, was his absolute devotion and love for his wife and son. After years of war and bloodshed, Vlad has now found peace in his family. So when his family is threatened, it’s understandable why Vlad would take such drastic measures to ensure his family’s safety. There was such warmth to his character that is definitely a step back from other Dracula portrayals. Luke Evans was also remarkable in his ability to convey such a wide away of emotions that came with the challenge of playing Dracula. He played a handsome prince whose fairy tale life becomes a catastrophic nightmare and in the effort to bring hope, he must go through hell.

     Sarah Gadon as Princess Mirena: Vlad’s beautiful and devoted wife who remains by her husband’s side when he reveals his secret vampiric form. Mirena’s loyalty to her family and her people is just as strong as Vlad’s and she will fight to her last breath for the safety of her son. Although she might look like a china doll, Mirena possesses a steel strength and dignity that forever compels her husband to keep fighting, to always move forward and never look back. Sarah Gadon was just beautiful and wonderful throughout the whole film! A perfect example of marital devotion and loyalty and of motherly love and sacrifice, which really changes the whole perspective of the Dracula story.

     Dominic Cooper as Sultan Mehmed: A cruel and heartless tyrant whose brutality knows no boundaries. Although Mehmed and Vlad were childhood friends, time and war has changed them into enemies. While Vlad believes in peace negotiations, Mehmed only wants to kill, annihilate and take what he believes to be rightfully his. Mehmed is truly a villainous demon that has no humanity or belief in dignity, honor, or even love. Dominic Cooper was terrifying as Mehmed!!! He may not look that scary, but he’s one of those evil characters that is cool and calm on the outside and all hellfire and blazes on the inside.

     Charles Dance as the Master Vampire: A prophesied monster of evil, which dwells in the caves of Broken Tooth Mountain, this hideous creature has been the stuff of horror stories for centuries. As his story goes, he was once a mortal man, who summoned a demon for dark power, but the demon tricked him and although the man was given superhuman powers, he was made prisoner for eternity in the cave he now inhabits. Now Vlad has turned to this creature for aid to stop Mehmed from destroying his home. The Master gives him blood to drink which enhances all of Vlad’s senses as well hone dark powers, but warns Vlad that if he gives into blood lust he will remain a slave to this vampiric nature forever.

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Vlad with his son Ingeras

     A great story that had an unbelievable ending! It was neither happy nor sad, but gave insight for better days to come. Although I’ve never been a big Dracula fan, Dracula Untold was a great prequel storyline that finally saw the story from Vlad’s POV. To see the infamous creature who was once a loving husband and father that was at risk of losing everything he loved, gives a different perspective on the legend as a whole. It was good to see a Dracula film that wasn’t gory or sexed up and focused on Vlad’s mission to defeat the evil of his enemies as well as suppress the growing evil inside of himself.