Dracula Movie Critique – Besson’s Passionate Reimagining of the Classic Horror Story is Outlandish but Watchable

It’s possible audiences aren’t clamoring for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for glossiness and bloat. And yet, it’s worth noting: his lavishly upholstered vampire romance has ambition and panache – and with its B-movie charm, I might just favor over Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, such as a scene that looks like it presents a geographic divide between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered man of the church pursuing the undead – it feels natural for him to tackle this role before – who ends up in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Likewise present is the sinister Dracula, brought to life by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone evoking Carell’s Gru character in the Despicable Me films. This character that he too was born to take on.

The Narrative: A Tale of Love and Loss

Here’s the premise: the count has traveled ceaselessly the world in anguish for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a punishment for his irreligious grief over the death of his wife, Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). The count has been searching, searching, searching for a female who could be the return of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to Dracula’s fortress to discuss his real estate holdings and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Lighthearted Touch

Besson structures Dracula’s second-act backstory of international journeys in various outrageous costumes skillfully, and he is not above giving us some comedy moments reminiscent of Mel Brooks – like the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to commit suicide following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as comical sequences that follow Dracula sprays himself in a certain perfume in historic Florence, which makes him irresistible to women. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula can be streamed online starting December 1st and on DVD and Blu-ray starting the twenty-second of December. It screens in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.