By Anand Holla
Making a deal with the devil never comes without a bunch of treacherous strings attached. For Transylvanian prince Vlad Tepes in the latest fantasy action-adventure film Dracula Untold, doing so throws his life into a blood-thirsty tailspin, and in the bargain, makes for some throwaway popcorn entertainment.
If you are expecting gallons of gore and graphic content that are fundamental to vampire flicks, then director Gary Shore’s more human story and PG-13 treatment may not work for you. The Doha premiere of the film was held, last week, at the IMAX theatre of Novo Cinemas at The Pearl-Qatar.
Somewhat of a prequel to the Dracula, the film attempts to humanise the origins of the world’s most famous vampire through its tragic hero Tepes, played convincingly by Luke Evans (Fast & Furious 6, Immortals).
Having grown up as a child soldier enslaved to the Turks, Tepes has promised his wife (Sarah Gadon) that he won’t let their son (Art Parkinson) go through the same. Tepes, whose prowess as a warrior has earned him the menacing nick of Vlad the Impaler, appears to have mellowed into a peaceful ruler of Transylvania until trouble comes knocking.
Tepes’ old companion Sultan Mehmed of Turkey (Dominic Cooper) demands 1,000 Transylvanian boys for his army, including Tepes’ son. Obviously, Tepes doesn’t give in. As he gets ready to go to any length to stop this from happening, his frenzied desperation takes him to the haunted caves throbbing with an ancient curse.
It’s here at the Broken Tooth Mountain that Tepes must seal the deal with the devil, the Master Vampire, to gain supernatural powers at the cost of eternal damnation. It’s an awesomely tough choice to make: stay human and perish along with your kingdom and family, or become a vampire with an unquenchable thirst for blood, and tear through Mehmed’s army.
The plot is engaging enough to carry you through to the end, but only if you allow logic to take a few leaps of faith. For instance, Tepes’ newfound strengths can help him glide at incredible speeds, control cloud patterns to shut out light when needed, and even burst into a chaotic flood of bats, and yet in a couple of crucial situations, he doesn’t use these powers to his advantage.
Visual effects seek to thrill, supported by an ominous grey tone that the cinematography chases. The action sequences are exciting, too, but are muddled by frenetic editing which, at times, makes them incoherent. While the narrative benefits from the genuine dilemma that it pushes the protagonist into, the film doesn’t go beyond its obvious limitations to etch out a lasting “untold” tale of how Bram’s Stoker’s iconic monster came into being.
While it’s not a definitive Dracula film, you could surely catch this bloodsport if you want 92 minutes of enjoyable cinema.
